Remove gravity, and structure becomes volume.
2024
Rhododendrons explores garments as a system responding to gravity. The work investigates how modular structures behave when gravity is removed, shifting from fixed silhouette to distributed volume.
This project demonstrates that garments can change behavior under different environmental conditions.
The garment has two layers. A fitted base that moves with the body. A secondary layer of modular units engineered to respond to gravitational force. Under normal conditions they settle. Remove gravity, and they lift.
Testing happened aboard a parabolic flight with Aurelia Institute and Zero-G. The garment cycled between 1g and weightlessness repeatedly.
In 1g the modules rest into silhouette. In zero gravity the structure opens. Volume expands outward, individual units separate and float. The garment stops behaving like a form and begins behaving like a field.
Each silk flower individually formed and heat-set by M&S Schmalberg, a fourth-generation millinery factory, one of the last of its kind in New York City. Inspired by Nepal's national flower, the rhododendron.
A bodysuit similar to those made for figure skaters, a second skin enabling supported 360° movement while maintaining physical modesty. Ruffles engineered to expand under weightless conditions. Striking red flowers "blossom" as the garment transitions into 0-G. Jagriti requested a pocket be added for her cell phone, she would need it to capture her experience.
A photoshoot with photographer Jennifer Katzman and Jagriti in New York City. Trampolines and fans were deployed to authentically simulate the physical gestures of zero-g.
As part of the Horizon 2024 Cohort, Jagriti embarked on a historic flight for space-fashion, successfully demonstrating the kinetic ornamentation of the zero-gravity design.
Each silk flower was individually formed and heat-set, then hand-attached at calibrated distribution points across the torso and sleeves, optimized for visibility at the moment of weightlessness.
Credits