Digitally embroidered organza shoe
2015
Concept:
I am interested in reclaiming tropes of techno-orientalism and its tendency to eroticize and inflate asian bodies with a technologically advanced future. The embroidered text is a piece of original creative writing 'Peach Blossom Shangri-la 2.0' that is a revision of the ancient chinese political text Peach Blossom Shangri-la. The revision 'updates' the original text to imagine a speculative culturally fluid space.
Test 1: digital embroidery on uv printed fabric.
I wanted to test the legibility of the embroidery on digitally printed fabric before committing to the final design. This technique was used instead for a garment instead of the shoe.
Test 2:
Laser cut leather designs. The left is on chrome tanned leather. The right is on vegetable tanned leather that I was going to wet mold onto the leg to retain its shape.
Test 3:
Digital embroidery on digitally printed fabric covered leather insole. I was happy with the test result of this and replicated in a modfied shape to fit the heel.
Test 4:
Digital embroidery and applique on organza. I wanted to experiment with heavier weights of fabric on the organza such as the red leather and denim. For the final design I chose to only use digital embroidered text. Though this is a technique I am interested in using in the future.
