Neutral look

Montreal – Fashion designer Ying Gao’s Neutralité dresses use facial tracking technology to react to the emotions of onlookers.

• The dresses, called Can’t and Won’t, are covered in lacy tendrils that move
• But movement only takes place if the viewer maintains a stoic expression while viewing the dresses

Fashion is usually designed to evoke some kind of reaction in the viewer. Paradoxically, however, Ying Gao’s latest designs only move if the viewer has a completely neutral expression.

Robotic mechanisms are located throughout the fabric and are connected to facial recognition software. Made from cotton mesh, high-tech super-organza and PVDF, the dresses appear delicate and ethereal, designed to explore the relationship between garment and wearer.

‘The dresses demand a level of humility clearly out of synch with today’s over-the-top expressiveness,’ explains Gao. ‘When viewers participate in this ‘living’ system, they become a component of a self-generated eco-system.’