ying gao

It is not possible for us to stay away from fashion as clothing stay so close to our daily life. There is a close relationship between clothes and our own body as well as building up our own image. We are so close to “clothing” but how many of us know what it is. The definition of fashion changes constantly. Technology also affects the fashion industry and gives new idea to fashion designer. By thinking “clothing” as individual, somehow it also interacts with the environment.

With her interest in fashion and interactive technology, she is pushing the boundaries of what a garment could be. She covers a lot of her works which are more like statements than garments. “Walking city” is one of the best examples. The garments and sculpture, origami and draping interact with the environment by adding technology. The garment looks like it is breathing as human does. It seems like there is a human behind the beautiful form and structure of contemporary clothing. Besides showing videos of the apparel, she also shows the mechanism under the pieces while we are thinking how magical it is. The magical moment breaks when we heard the sound made by the mechanism. Ying Gao tells the students in the Design Academy, “I love the sound made by the mechanical movement that make the pieces more real.” Compare to the similar art projects by fashion designer Hussein Chalayan, Ying Gao’s seems more interested in the technical elements and see the pieces as sculptures.

Through her works, it is not hard to see that she is more into the technology than the human body. By looking at her way of presenting the garments, most of them do not use models. She mentioned how fashion design always deal with “body” so she tends not to mention human body in her works. “My work is more static.” She said, “I want to put art into fashion.”

Ying Gao believes fashion is a sociological and cultural phenomenon. By looking at the “copy” in fashion industry, she makes a move to copy her own design and make a cheaper version with different material. Though she talked briefly about this issue, but it is obvious that the “copy” problem happens in all design fields in different ways.

Ying Gao is now living and teaching in Montreal, Canada. She enjoys the freedom of being a teacher than a fashion designer that needs to meet the deadline of manufacturer. She found the best of teaching is having the interaction with students and learn from each other. She also let her students participate in her projects and she enjoys working with them.

When we set too much boundaries, we will lost our creativity. Ying Gao reminds us to be creative and avoid making gadgets. No matter she is being a fashion designer, an artist or teacher, her main role is to make people dream and think more.