Youngwon Jo

We are now struggling through the Coronavirus pandemic and are dealing with an extremely polluted environment and climate change. However, I think these situations will constantly appear in shorter terms and eventually restrict ourselves from socializing, going to public spaces, and will hardly experience mother nature. So I thought of a question, “If these situations become harsher than they are now, what would people be required to wear in their daily lives?”

The answer was to create a headpiece that “protects” the wearers from viruses, environmental pollution, and extreme UV light. The dome is the main protection and its invisibility enables the wearers to clearly see outside. The studs that surround the dome represent “resistance” from the virus, pollution, and racial harassment. I have seen my friends and colleagues being one of the victims of racial harassment during this time, so the headpiece physically protects the wearers from violence. Also, the spandex fabric in a neutral skin tone is stockings. I deconstructed and reconstructed them into a wearable piece by hand stitching. As the fabric fully wraps around the body it creates an illusion that this wearable piece has become a ‘body part’ (creates a sense of connection to our body). The sunglasses are for UV light protection and also represent the wearer’s perspective of looking at the world; yellow and red colored lenses reflect my hope that people see the world still as a vibrant and cozy place while such negative things happen. Finally, the air is double filtered through the stockings and mask for the resistance of infection. No matter the gender, body type, and origin the headpiece could be worn by most human beings (except for children under the age of 7) as its flexibility and scale are ergonomically designed to be suitable for the majority.