Hongru Tan

Urban Accessory

Class of: 2022

Major: Fashion Design BFA

Faculty: Karelyn Siegler

Prompt: The Design Challenge is to solve a problem in the terrain we choose using a design solution that incorporates some kind of folding pattern from our exercises with origami.

The terrain I choose is the dog walkers since I used to be accompanied by dogs for eight years during my childhood. Also from the ethnographical research, I fully understand those difficulties that the dog walkers need to deal with. Then, I started exploring innovative design ideas in depth by folding each step of the octahedron, different folds pattern could always function as an accessory design which is useful and surprising, such as a brooch, a purse, an earring, etc. After I fully grasp the principle of folding octahedron, which unexpectedly inspired my final design, a foldable and practical bag.

For the final product, twelve pieces of an equilateral triangle with hard interfacing inside consist of the basic structure of the bag. I sewed all parts together to keep both the origami structure and the foldable characteristic effectively. The metal chain can also function as the fastener. When the metal chain is locked, it’s an enclosed bag; When it’s unlocked, the bag turns to be flat which is convenient for transportation and storage.