水韵 SHUI YUN, the rhythm of water is an interactive garment designed to raise the awareness of sexual harassment and plastic wastes. Water not only represent ocean plastic pollution but also symbolize women, as women are often described as water in Chinese poem. This garment is a poetic piece express the fear and anger when women are disrespected as well as mother nature.
INSPIRATIONS & IDEATIONS
This interactive garment was inspired by the #metoo movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault started in October 2017 as a hashtag on social media. Rose McGowan helped launch the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment after being one of the first women to accuse movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of rape. “This is the first time since the dawn of the caveman era that women are actually being believed, and it might take hundreds of us before we’re believed,” she said.
I also took some references from my cultural background. Such as 云肩(Yunjian), the traditional Chinese custom. Yunjian was first founded in the Sui Dynasty, it has various patterns, symbols and meanings. It was worn by the god and goddess in the Chinese legends, as it seems to be the wings on both sides of the shoulders. In Song Dynasty, Yunjian was considered as the noble custom and became available to the mass during the Qing Dynasty. Yunjian was normally customized based on one’s body shape. I used this element in my design to empower the wearer as it represents nobility and immorality and to add harmony and balance to the whole garment.
PROTOTYPING
I developed a few versions of the shoulder piece mockup with aesthetics and functionalities in consideration.
INTERACTIVITY
This garment is able to communicate with the surrounding and express its emotion. The garment will give the alert when anyone steps into the wearer’s personal space. This is achieved by having two infrared sensors that detect objects within a certain distance and trigger the LED light.
This circuit design was collaborated with the engineers at NTU School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. We listed out the components that can be used to achieve the ideal effect and also the pro and cons of similar components. For example, we decided to use the infrared sensor instead of the ultrasonic sensor because the infrared sensor is smaller in size which is better wearable design.
In addition, I did a research on Anouk Wipprecht ‘s Spider Dress in my History of Interactive Media class which gave me a better understanding of wearable fashion tech.
MATERIALS
During material research, I found out about ocean plastic pollution which is harming numbers of sea creatures and animals. Our mother earth is overwhelmed with more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the oceans. Thus, I started looking through biomaterials, and I came across an interesting material called bioplastic. It is made by a simple recipe with water, white vinegar, cornstarch, and glycerol. Numerous experiments were done to explore the property of bioplastic.
It is challenging to produce biomaterial as it is unstable as compared to traditional fashion materials. I cooked the bioplastic in the home environment without refrigerator and control of humidity. There are few batches of bioplastic had mold during the drying process possibly due to the heavy rain in the past few weeks. I could not be able to produce the amount of bioplastic because of the weather condition and time constraint. Thus, I add another organic material to the garment.
I used the rice noodle to create the ‘sketchy line’ as the base of the shoulder piece. Then, I hand sew the bioplastic pieces onto it. Both materials are made from water and food ingredients which reflect my intention of creating this garment.
FASHION SHOW
This is my first time to be involved in a fashion show. It is exciting to organize the show, be the designer as well as the model. It is not easy to raise fund, shop for makeup and planned the program flow in such a short time when all the students are busy working on their projects. Fortunately, we had the donation from alumni, friends, classmates, and our prof Galina. We were able to purchase quality makeup for the models and provide dinner for everyone before the show. I am also very grateful that the film and photographers are willing to help us with the photoshoot, fashion show filming, and equipment lending despite their busy schedules. Hope to pass the experience we have to the next batch of wearable designers so they can start the event planning and getting sponsorships for the show earlier.
FINAL DESIGN
ALL IN ALL
This journey had completely changed my understanding of wearable technology. Initially, I thought wearable tech is just the machine looking small device that attached to our body such as fitness monitor. However, I am able to gain knowledge about smart textile, biomaterial and how wearable technology is playing an important role in the medical field. I would like to further explore this interdisciplinary area of study in the future. Lastly, I believe that GOOD DESIGN CARES, and I wish to create more art and design for people for good.