Most people spend a lot of time trying to look their best while alive, she reasons, so why not put a bit more effort into what you'll wear on the journey into the hereafter?

"When it comes to a wedding dress or formal dress every detail is planned and the conversation goes on for hours," said the final year PhD fashion student from Hawthorn. "But the garment that merges with you as you decompose in the ground or the garment that becomes part of your cremated ashes is usually chosen from the closet in a rush."

Last year, as part of her research into the way different materials perform after burial, Ms Interlandi designed special outfits for 21 dead pigs, which she then buried. At intervals of 50 days she exhumed the pigs in threes to see how they and the clothing had decomposed.

"I'm into the whole natural earth burial movement," she said. "No coffins, no embalming and a relatively shallow grave so the body breaks down quickly. The garments address a whole lot of cultural ideas about protection. We know bodies don't need protection from the cold or the dirt but psychologically the living need that protection for them."

Next year, she will launch a range of clothes called Garments for the Grave that will be available for dead people.

Ms Interlandi is one of about 80 presenters attending a two-day conference called Death Down Under starting today at the University of Sydney.

From Maori funeral customs to the modern tradition of roadside memorials, barely an aspect of death and dying will remain unexamined.

Conference organiser Dr Sheila Harper said: "The response has been overwhelming to the point where we have had to turn a fair number of people away" .

Dr Harper's own research focuses on how people perceive dead bodies. "Often the response I get when I tell people what I study is 'Oh, that's morbid'. And I say of course it's morbid - it's about death.

"And then they say it is a taboo subject but immediately go on at length to tell me about their experiences and those of people they know. People do want to talk about this."

Alongside academic presentations at the conference there will be social events including a dinner and an optional ghost tour of The Rocks.

"I don't know whether I would say the atmosphere will be cheerful but there will certainly be a lot of energy," said Dr Harper. "The people who are coming are very enthusiastic.''