Xinjian Ruan

About

Xinjian Ruan is an artist who excels at integrating elements from various disciplines into his fashion practice. His graduation project, *Flesh & Silicon*, is a menswear/costume collection consisting of two looks, each with both physical garments and virtual clothing animations. These two looks represent organic life, symbolized by humans, and silicon-based life, symbolized by artificial intelligence.

Throughout the creation of this series, he actively utilized resources within the institution, collaborating with technicians from other disciplines. He employed virtual reality technology for 3D draping, followed by UV unwrapping to obtain garment patterns. Using motion capture, Unreal Engine’s Metahuman models, and Clo3D’s fabric simulation, he enhanced the performance aspects of his digital garments.

Moreover, he experimented with unconventional materials in his design process. For the organic look, he used thick leather commonly found in bag-making, as well as gelatin-based biomaterials. Gelatin preserves intricate sculpted details during molding, which he leveraged to create special effects prosthetic-like biomaterials. For the silicon-based lifeform look, he chose latex, a special material known for its elasticity, body-conforming properties, and semi-transparency, mirroring the qualities of silicon-based materials. He collaborated with fashion technician Kelly to craft this latex-based design.

At the Expo, Ruan also infused performative elements into his garments. He invited the audience to punch holes in his leather garments and add piercing accessories. These subconscious choices of where to place the holes reflected the audience’s personal experiences and preferences, aligning with the concept of organic life and free will that he aimed to convey.

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