The Shedding of Light

Category: Apparel

This project evolves from my previous work, further developing its ideas through a deeper exploration of concept, material, and form. Based on the culture of the Paiwan, one of the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan, the collection draws from the myth of the hundred-pace viper and the sun, where the viper carries light across generations. Using “shedding skin” as a central idea, the project explores how identity is not fixed, but built over time through accumulation, growth, and inheritance. Leather is used as the main material, combined with damaged fabric fibers to recreate the texture of shed skin and light. Instead of surface imitation, the skin is constructed by cutting leather into thin strips and sewing them together one by one, forming a layered structure that acts as a “second skin.” This process emphasizes time, labor, and the idea of building a body rather than simply covering it. The design focuses on the relationship between the body and this constructed skin. The garments do not fully enclose the body, but attach with gaps and movement, allowing light to pass through and the body to shift between visibility and concealment. Through this, the collection reflects a state of transformation—where the body exists between protection and restriction, inheritance and self-definition.