Artificial Intelligence a collection inspired by A.I. robots.
2020
Story: In the year 2032, artificial intelligence robots are used to help with whatever people need in their day-to-day lives. But, whenever a newer model of A.I. comes out, the older ones are immediately discarded. These robots begin to break down from living on the streets or in warehouses—environments that they were not designed for. They begin to show the electronic components beneath their human-like appearance. The robots find each other and come together to help each other navigate the new situation they’ve found themselves in.
The story is dark, but I chose to look to comic book art from the 50s-70s and video game art for inspiration. The use of bright colors, odd fabric mixes, exaggerated shapes and sizes, and large design details gives the collection a more playful, campy feel to it.
There is no actual technology in this collection, the different fabric layers represent the layers of the robots—human, metal, and tech. These layers are revealed in a patchwork effect to illustrate the breaking down of the robots.
This collection was made through making and altering patterns, and splitting each piece into various shaped sections. I used hard angles to imitate metal and classic robotic shapes. The garments were put together by layering the different sections/materials on top of each other, and then attaching them together with topstitching.
The materials used were: metallic gold and silver thread, large grommets, large blanket pins, metallic elastic—this is exposed when it attaches to the buckles as another aspect of the A.I. electronics—, large buckles, an orange textured faux leather, a black stretchy faux leather, a mint stretchy faux leather, a stiff reflective silver fabric, and a sheer green and blue sequin material. The mint and orange material represents the outer human layer, the black and silver layer represent the metal layer, and the sequin material represents the technology layer.
