Yinggao | Fascinating robotic clothing inspired by the virtual

In designer Ying Gao’s studio-laboratory, clothes come to life, driven by lines of code and wired mechanisms. Inspired by virtual fashion, on which she takes a critical look, the UQAM professor presents a new collection of robotic clothes, very real ones.

Valerie Simard
The Press

2 5 2 6 : this is the name of this collection and also the number of hours that Ying Gao, professor at the École supérieure de mode and at the École de design of UQAM, and her assistants have spent creating these two robotic clothes. These days, they are putting the finishing touches to this project which will be presented as part of the next International Digital Art Biennial, in Montreal, from 1^er December to February 5. Then, the pieces will head west to land at the Vancouver Art Gallery as part of an exhibition devoted to contemporary fashion. Helsinki and Tokyo will follow in 2024 and 2025.

Le travail de Ying Gao, qui est née en Chine et est passée par la Suisse avant de s’établir à Montréal, a été présenté dans une centaine d’expositions à l’étranger et lui a valu une couverture dans plusieurs médias, dont Vogue, le New York Times et Wallpaper. Fascinante exploration de la matière, sa démarche propose également des réflexions sur l’humain et la société, comme ces robes interactives « Can’t » et « Won’t » qui deviennent immobiles devant l’expressivité du spectateur, créées en 2016 et présentées à nouveau mercredi au Palais des congrès de Montréal, lors de Décadra, l’évènement annuel de l’ESG UQAM.

Des vêtements « vivants »

Lorsqu’ils sont actionnés, les vêtements de cette présente collection se mettent à onduler de façon surréelle sur les mannequins. Fabriqués de matières créées dans l’atelier de la professeure Gao, les textiles sérigraphiés à la main prennent vie grâce à un assemblage de fils et de composants électroniques programmés par ordinateur. Clous du spectacle : les « nacres » qui s’ouvrent et se referment comme des créatures des fonds marins. Ce fut le plus grand défi de cette collection, souligne Ying Gao. « Tommy [Lecomte, étudiant en arts numériques à l’Université Concordia] spent nights making this module. The glassmaker also spent many hours perfecting these mother-of-pearls, which are made of glass, precious metals and silicone. It really is a material that was invented here. »

The designer wanted to give her creations the brilliance that characterizes virtual clothes, which have no physical existence and are worn in video games, in the metaverse or on social networks. Prices range from a few tens of dollars to thousands if exclusivity is desired. Some of these garments and accessories are NFTs, “non-fungible tokens”, a digital file to which a digital certificate of authenticity has been attached. But not all.

“It’s very niche, but at the same time, there’s a real clientele for that,” notes Ying Gao. But it’s still a marketing tool. All this hype around virtual clothing is purely commercial. »

If the ideation of this collection started with observations in 2019, it has been transformed over time into a critical look. “We buy images,” she denounces. It is the peak of the fast fashion to me, in that people who buy from Shein, they buy $5 clothes, take pictures of themselves, post on Instagram and throw them in the trash. That’s image. »

With 2 5 2 6, the designer wanted to recall the importance of the material. But what is the use of creating this kind of clothing?

“We are not used to thinking of clothing outside of its pure and hard functionality, that is to say dressing a body for this question of modesty, because we cannot walk around naked or for this question of protection because it is -30°C. Beyond that, there is a real psychological function to this object. There, it has become such an object of consumption with the rise in force of the phenomenon of fast fashion that we no longer have a step back from this object, whereas in other fields of design we gladly accept more conceptual, more speculative things. »

Thus, she wants her creations to lead to a reflection on our relationship to clothes. “I dare to hope that a 17-year-old girl who may be in the habit of buying from Shein, when she sees an item of clothing like this in a museum, she is not going to rush home, open her application and buy a $5 item of clothing. It is also to remember that this object has another value. »