The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1347392
She continued to explore the creativity and innovation that inspired her design. In the early 2000s, when technology was rising in prominence, she had the idea to combine tech with textiles to develop something much larger than what made up the fashion industry. It was then that Gao became a fashion revolutionary. "Throughout my interactive garment projects, which unite my two areas of interest (fashion design and media arts), I wanted to pursue the structure of clothing," Gao said. "But most of all, I wanted to explore the possibility of working with intangible elements that are found in our physical world." Gao is particularly interested in creating shapes from intangibles, such as air and light, which she cites as a key component of both her creative and manufacturing processes. In order to replicate this sensation, she integrates fabric so light that it appears invisible as if she was simply giving the air a visible form. She has garments that can be activated by voice or light alone, and clothes that embrace the unpredictable, ever-changing nature of the world around us-- something, she compares to a metamorphosis. "I would like for people to understand that I'm not creating science fiction. These are not the clothes of the future. These objects represent for me the here and now. The ideas I express through these objects reflect the questions and uncertainties that we are already experiencing today," Gao says, after noting that sensory tech is already present in fields other than fashion. With technology becoming prominent at increasingly significant rates for our society, Gao began to look closely into the way we, as humans, interact with it. She was encouraged to look into more biometric data that observe stress levels and emotions, making this question of relation even more important. ...I AM NOT CREATING SCIENCE FICTION. V U E N J .C O M 43