Techno-Ludic Lookbook

Technical Fashion Flat Final, December 2023

32-page catalog showcasing the collection, including moodboard, textiles, swatchboard, technical flats, and fashion illustrations. 

The source of inspiration for this project was the techno-ludic sentiments of the surreal movement as a reaction to the industrial revolution. From the evolution of the peppered moth due to smog, to the discovery of synthetic fabric dyes, to surrealist techniques and ideas about making, this collection explores a variety of effects and problems posed by industrialization, and posed by fashion as a whole. Read more in the show notes.

Show Notes

The Surreal movement was a deeply political reaction to the industrial revolution. The utilitarian aspects of progress, ideals of efficiency, and functionality were all rejected by surrealists and seen as drudgery - yet they loved utilizing new technology to create. In many ways, the industrial revolution brought about an end to the work of the skilled artisan. Ford’s great invention, assembly line manufacturing, reduced the necessity of skill, an understanding of the whole, even the level of investment in creation. Things are getting faster, more, profitable and efficient and economical. The solution to our closets is not more clothes or new clothes, it’s clothes that solve our dressing problems creatively.

Techno-ludicrosity is a key ideal of the surrealists. They embraced technology but rejected utility, inventing new, advanced absurdity. This collection explores these ideas of functionality, utility, and artisanal workmanship with an excessively practical eye - practical to the point of improbable.

Imagery from this collection was also inspired by the peppered moth. The peppered moth as we know it exists as a direct reaction to the industrial revolution, natural selection changing it from white to black as a reaction to the smog and pollution of nineteenth century london. Is there anything as surreal as the evolution of a species within a lifetime? And similarly to the tenets of surrealism themselves, this was an effect of industry.

The first synthetic fabric dyes were another major change to come out of the industrial revolution when, in 1856, chemist William Henry Perkin accidentally discovered mauveine and its possibilities for clothing. Early chemical dye processes created rich, saturated tones never seen before. This went on to have devastating consequences for the environment, akin to those that caused the peppered moth’s drastic change. Colors for Fall/Winter 2024 are inspired by these dyes and the smog that covered London as a result.

Textiles for Fall/Winter 2024 were made following popular surrealist techniques. Experimentation and automatism are key starting points for surreal artmaking, and both the Rhubine Bubble and Lilac Coil prints were made in this way. Using india ink and liquid soap, bubble imagery was freely created and edited into a seamless tile. The technique of frottage, or creating a rubbing of a textured surface, was used on a stovetop burner, emphasizing the spiral motif inspired by André Durst’s surreal photography in 1936 that has become synonymous with surreal fashion.

This collection invites you to play, and engage with day-to-day reality in a critical, active way. Pants separate and meet themselves again at the ankle; shirts zip on or off to nothing; they multiply; they layer and they change. Garments solve problems in impractical ways. In a word, it’s techno-ludic.