material: white linen fabric, brown ribbons, buttons, rubber band, cotton thread
How does material inform movement?
People have different needs in daily life, and based on these needs they will choose a different material. Therefore, different material and texture will affect their movement:
People will wear casual clothes when they want to do sports because soft fabric can be comfortable for different activities. People will wear shoes with small bumps on the soles if they want to massage feet—this texture will help feet to relax. People will choose the park and grass to relax because the texture of the grass will provide soft support. People will choose the smooth road for walking because the smooth surface is easy to walk on (unlike for example a muddy road).
My client is a young Chinese girl. She likes shopping, sport, pure colours, and DIY. She needs a different style of clothes for study and work. Essential on these needs, I make a dress that can transform by changing its length and how it feels on the body.
I decided to use white fabric (white as the primary colour) and sew on many buttons. My client can fold the dress by herself and make it longer or shorter, making it feels tight or more breezy.
Footscray has a different texture of roads. I made a pair of soft fabric shoes which are connected to the dress by the ribbon. My client will have a different experience and different walking gestures when she is walking on different roads. Ribbon go over the whole dress, and its end connects the dress with the shoes. The direction of the ribbon will change depending on the length of the dress and will have an effect on how she walks.