2026 Bridges Conference Math + Fashion
Paola Sofía Serrano Bravo
Designers
Paola Sofía Serrano Bravo
PhD Researcher
University of Galway
Galway City, Galway, Ireland
Biography
Paola Serrano-Bravo is a PhD candidate at University of Galway. She studied Mathematics at UNAM, in Mexico, and went on to study a Master's in Science Communication in Ireland. Her current research is much more focused in sustainability and public engagement, but the foundations of mathematics is something she still enjoys, as well as different aspects of crafting and creativity.
Looks
A lateral view of the A-periodic hat, showing the tile shape.
Model: Paola Serrano-Bravo Photography: Amrutha Hariharan
The A-periodic hat
Photography: Amrutha Hariharan
About the look
A-periodic hat
Cardboard, newspaper, glue, recycled broken fedora
2026
The A-periodic Hat was born from an enthusiastic sharing of the hat tile discovery by David Smith. Three copies of the iconic silhouette of the aperiodic monotile were translated over a central axis and then joined together through their corners. The word for 'newspaper' in Spanish refers quite literally to its periodic (time-wise) nature; that's why that material was chosen to cover the shape.
With the topic of sustainability so present in my project, my goal was to mix mathematics with laboratory waste, and ever since I read about the discovery of the monotile I wanted to make it into a hat. This was the result of that convergence of ideas.