Reflections in Motion
The Robotic Garments of Ying Gao
In camera by Fashion Designer Ying Gao | Photography Maude Arsenault
Robots have long captivated our imagination. The vision of sharing our lives with intelligent machines—whether as helpers, companions, or reflections of ourselves—has been present for over a century. From the realms of science fiction to groundbreaking prototypes, our relationship with robots is continuously evolving.
As this relationship deepens, fashion—ever responsive to cultural shifts—has long reflected on our evolving entanglement with machines, both as metaphor and material.
From Chanel and Schiaparelli to Coperni and Alexander McQueen, robots have made their mark on the runway—sometimes walking alongside models, sometimes taking the spotlight entirely. A recent fashion show in Shanghai showcased a humanoid robot and a robot dog duo gliding down the catwalk, intriguing audiences and sparking discussions about the future of fashion, performance, and technology. These vibrant moments hint at something profound. As artificial intelligence and robotics become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, we begin to wonder: what if the clothes we wear could respond, react, or even think?
Montreal-based designer Ying Gao doesn’t see robotics as a mere trend. Instead, she invites us into a deeper, more nuanced exploration—where garments resonate with meaning. Renowned for seamlessly merging fashion, product, and media design, Gao challenges our perceptions of clothing and its significance in contemporary life. Rather than focusing solely on how clothes are made, she is interested in what they represent—how garments can become spaces of interaction and reflection, shaped by the cultural and technological shifts around us.
For Gao, design serves as a lens through which we can examine the evolving boundaries of the self in a world mediated by technology. Her garments often act as transitional spaces, reflecting the profound transformations in how we perceive identity, the body, and the environments we inhabit.
In her project All Mirrors (2024), Gao integrates soft, responsive mirrors into garments that activate when observed. But rather than offering a clear reflection, the mirrors return a fragmented, softened image—one that is constantly shifting with movement and light. Inspired by Umberto Eco’s theories of perception, the piece plays with the instability of self-image in a visually saturated world. The garment becomes an interface that doesn’t affirm identity, but questions it.
All Mirrors (2024)
In In Camera (2023), the viewer’s gaze is returned. Two garments respond to being photographed by sensing the camera and capturing an image of the observer in return. Here, Gao inverts the relationship between viewer and subject, garment and lens. Referencing the legal term meaning “in private,” the work quietly resists the flattening effects of fashion-as-content, challenging the constant exposure that defines our image culture.
With 2 5 2 6 (2022)—named after the exact number of hours it took to create—Gao draws from the surreal aesthetics of digital fashion and the NFT space. The collection features garments crafted from a unique blend of glass, precious metals, and silicone. They flutter, twist, and unfold with mechanical grace, mimicking the impossible movements of CGI. Yet these are not simulations—they are physical, slow-made, and tactile. Gao brings digital illusion back into material form, reminding us that labour and touch still matter.
Gao’s exploration of technology and perception often unfolds slowly—like water shifting form. In Flowing Water, Standing Time, garments become poetic instruments of stillness and motion. Using subtle mechanical systems and responsive materials, the piece creates a meditative choreography, evoking the passage of time not as urgency, but as presence. The project draws viewers into a contemplative space where technology enhances awareness rather than distraction.
This sensitivity to movement and disappearance traces back to her earlier work (no)where (now)here (2013). In this project, Gao created two ghost-like dresses from super organza, photoluminescent thread, and PVDF sensors. The garments reacted to voice and motion, flickering between visibility and vanishing. They hovered at the edge of perception, raising quiet questions about how much of ourselves is really seen—and how much fades unnoticed in the noise.
Across all of her work, Gao uses technology not to dazzle, but to disrupt. Her garments don’t aim for efficiency or novelty; they invite intimacy, reflection, and presence. She plays with our image—how we see ourselves, how we are seen, and how those perceptions shift in an age of machines.
Info
fashion designer
ying gao
robotics engineer : simon laroche
Photography
All Mirrors
Photos by Malina Corpadean
In Camera & 2 5 2 6
Photos by Maude Arsenault
Videos
In Camera & 2 5 2 6
film director : Vincent René-Lortie
cinematographer : Jonathan Auger
Possible Tomorrows: Flowing Water, Standing Time
film director : Alexandre de Bellefeuille
@debellefeuille
Words
Nina Zulian