The purpose of this workshop was to rethink the traditionel Shanghainese dress – the Qipao. This was conducted through a collaboration between fashion students, material scientists from Donghua University and Diffus Design.
The result of the workshop was two collections of 6 interactive dresses. One collection focused on shape changing materials where the aim was to create interactive and dynamic surfaces and the other collection had focus on colour changing materials. In this case we developed sequins that could change colour from transparent to clear blue.
Both collections had transformation as the driving force. In this case transformation was connected to the Chinese philosophy of five elements.
Both collections were shown at a fashion show connected to Edinbourgh Art Festival in August 2018.