Finalist

The zen garden dress, like the Japanese dry garden it inspires from, is an abstract representation of nature. The dress invites you to watch it from different perspectives and to meditate on the slow passage of time and the cycles of life.

The dress includes a sand garden made of cord, set in a complex geometrical shape. The two sets of eight lines make you imagine yourself travelling on a sinuous river. They also refer to the classic eight yin/yang trigrams said to constitute the matrix of the universe.

The plants represent the endless cycle of seasons: bamboos on the sides for spring, lotus in the back for summer, honeysuckle on the shoulders for autumn and snowflower on the chest for winter. They are created using different silk ribbon embroidery techniques.

The embedded lights create a sense of movement and represent the duality of light and darkness; their brightness slightly changes with the wearer’s body movements. The low-consumption LEDs are powered using an originally patented electromagnetic induction system. Two rechargeable batteries (one for the front, one for the back), hidden under the skirt, will keep the dress alight for several hours.