Marina Toeters, Milla Burden, Rob Vogels, Loe Feijs
The artists' motivation is to stimulate innovation in fashion. Not
only the innovative use of known principles like tessellations, where
mathematics is essential, but also textile and process innovation,
next to business innovation (new forms of cooperation). We use for
example sublimation printing, foil applications and laser cutting for
the construction of the garments. This year's theme is a playful
fantasy interpretation of the corona virus in a fashion collection
consisting out of six items: a shirt, a corset, a dress, a jeans, a
top and a hoodie. We name the collection R=AIR. Playfulness, math,
making, aesthetics, dress and creativity help us to stay mentally
healthy in difficult times.
The R=AIR collection is based on the common pattern, a
tessellation of the $TG_1G_1TG_2G_2$ type, like the art of M.C.
Escher. It is a playful fantasy interpretation of today's Corona
virus. There is one formula, a simple model for the reproduction
rate $R$ of a (virus) infection. $R^n\rightarrow 0$ ($0\leq R<1$),
so if $R$ is lower than one, the number of cases goes down. Other
symbolic messages embedded in the pattern embrace the advise of
the Dutch and other governments to keep safe distance. The
tessellation was made using the Oogway library created by Dr Jun
Hu of TU/e (proceedings Bridges 2013). We thank Semra Aras, Jacq
Burden & Nina Welters for their help and support.