Hyperbolic Coat

Designers

Indira Chatterji

Professor of mathematics

Université Côte d’Azur

Nice, France

indira@unice.fr

chatterj.perso.math.cnrs.fr

View exhibition history

Rebecca Field

Associate Professor of Mathematics

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA

fieldre@jmu.edu

sites.google.com

View exhibition history

Biography

Rebecca Field is a mathematician–artist whose work lives at the intersection of abstract theory and tactile expression. She transforms commodities into intricate, sculptural forms, her practice explores how mathematical ideas can be felt as much as understood. Indira Chatterji, a mathematician with sewing and construction skills, approaches geometry through structural ingenuity. Together, they merge their complementary sensibilities to create the Hyperbolic Coat: a striking garment formed from a single, continuous, simply connected assembly of regular pentagons, and that was partly assembled during a collaborative workshop at IHP. Their collaboration embodies a shared brand ethos of making mathematics wearable, where elegance and experimentation converge.

Looks

Image for look 'Hyperbolic Coat' — Hyperbolic Coat
Modelled by Rebecca

About the look

Hyperbolic Coat

Cotton

2026

The Hyperbolic Coat is a garment that explores the geometry of negative curvature through a textile construction. It is composed of 28 regular pentagons cut from cotton fabric in two contrasting colours. These pieces are stitched together so that four pentagons with alternating colour meet at each vertex, a configuration that cannot lie flat on a table and instead produces negative curvature: a hyperbolic surface. The structure naturally generates ripples and folds, embodying the exponential growth from hyperbolicity. Two strategic identifications, created using snaps, transform the topologically contractible piece into a wearable form by shaping openings for the arms. When these snaps are fastened, the coat takes on a functional, body-oriented structure. When opened, the garment unfolds into a contractible subset of the hyperbolic plane with a boundary exceeding 10 meters in length. Two additional points of negative curvature are introduced, allowing the coat to rest on the shoulders while maintaining its hyperbolic features. The result is both a wearable object and a physical model of abstract mathematical principles, bridging fashion and geometry.