The idea that came to mind in order to incorporate the dynamic material was a cyberpunk/sci-fi style jacket with glowing pieces. I then researched and put together a moodboard. For the real-life inspiration I looked into military jackets as well as bomber jackets and goth fashion. One of the jackets is going to be a military style one, tidy and proper, maybe of a soldier/guard/policeman type of organization, with medals and gold/silver patterns. It could belong to a faction enforcing the law.
The second design of the jacket would keep the shape of the initial one but would have more of a bomber-style jacket. It would have a more rebellious vibe, as if the initial military jacket has been stolen and maybe modified by a group protesting against the ones enforcing the law. I searched for inspiration from cyberpunk and goth fashion as well as colourful badges to replace the military medals.
I also looked at examples from video games/animations, like the outfits from Cyberpunk 2077 and the enforcer uniforms from Arcane.
I took a look at how skins and different outfits are designed in games, what makes them different yet still the same. I looked into designs from Overwatch and Cyberpunk 2077. Colour as well as shape language in the design are changed in order to best fit the mood the creators wanted to convey. Compared to the classic design, Reaper's Nevermore skin, for example, has more pointed and curved shapes, repeating the shape of the beak on his mask and the theme of the raven.
I gathered some inspiration on shapes that would be evocative of the cyberpunk/sci-fi genre, to use in the design of the medals and badges maybe.
I then iterated using all these ideas. The ones on the top are the military jackets and the ones on the bottom their "rebel" variants.
I chose option three in the end, as it best conveyed the idea of a military jacket, and it gave the vibe of a pilot jacket, which would be a nice detail and give opportunities of storytelling through details. I also liked the tonal variation in its rebel variant. I wanted the sleeves to be from a different material, much like some bomber jackets are, which would give a mismatched and dishevelled look. Even so, the difference between the designs wasn't striking enough. I took the iterations to a new slide and tried to add some more details to the rebel jacket.
I tried to design the medals for the military jacket in a sci-fi style, using the shape language I researched on my moodboard. For the colours I chose from a deep blue and a mix of white and gold. I settled on the white and gold in the end as it gave it a royal and clean image as well as made the difference between the jackets more striking (since I planned for the rebel one to be black). On the back of the jacket, I drew a stylized eagle to signify that the jacket belongs to the aviation, as well as symbolize virtue and courage.
For the rebel jacket I went for a goth biker jacket and tried to make the collar resemble a goth choker necklace by adding the screws around it. I also tried to make the shapes more aggressive and added some spikes on the epaulets. Instead of gold, the enforced bits would be of rusty and scratched metal. The main part of the jacket would be made of old leather and the sleeves of polyester, like bomber jackets. Instead of the medals I plan to add badges with rebellious and weird designs, similar to the ones teenagers put on their bags and jackets, by using decals. I also added an initial, drawing once more inspiration from bomber jackets, and plan to add it using a decal too.
In the meantime, I've also made the mannequin, though I might polish it a bit more, especially the forearms and hands as they seem a bit weird.