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Jiayi Zang

Jiayi Zang

Hebei, China
UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE Royal College of Art
Title of Work Loss of Control
SPECIALISMS Womenswear

Contact Tutor
flora.mclean@rca.ac.uk

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Jiayi Zang is a fashion designer whose practice explores the relationship between humans, technology, and nature through wearable structures and experimental fashion. Combining sculptural forms, movement, and material experimentation, her work investigates ideas of protection, vulnerability, and environmental awareness, using fashion as a medium to question humanity's relationship with the natural world. Her project is inspired by the everyday moment of an umbrella being turned inside out by the wind. Designed to provide protection, an umbrella can fail in an instant, exposing the body once again to natural forces. This transformation became a metaphor for humanity's desire to control nature through technology while revealing the limits of that control. The final outcome combines expandable brass structures with lightweight textiles to create a wearable form that continuously transforms with the body's movement. Resembling both an umbrella and artificial wings, the structure reflects humanity's ambition to imitate nature while acknowledging that we remain part of it. Although it appears precise and protective, it is intentionally unstable, expressing the fragile balance between protection and vulnerability. Rather than offering solutions, Jiayi's work invites audiences to reflect on technological dependence and environmental change, encouraging a deeper awareness of the fragile relationship between humans and the natural world. Through fashion, she aims to create experiences that inspire dialogue about sustainability, coexistence, and the limits of human control.

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