Robotic Skins

What happens when the body we're designing for is no longer human?

For thousands of years, humans have used clothing, ornament, armor and craft to transform the body into something that communicates identity, culture and belonging.

The Met's collection is a record of that instinct.

Looking through the archive, I became interested not only in the objects themselves, but in the visual languages embedded within them their surfaces, ornament, craftsmanship and relationship to the body.

I wanted to carry those languages somewhere they were never intended to go:

onto machines.

I've been exploring robotic clothing for the past year and a half, imagining a future where physical AI is no longer confined to factories or laboratories, but exists inside our homes, workplaces and communities.

Today's robots are largely designed around function. But as they become part of our physical world, I wonder if we will eventually begin designing for them in the same way we design for ourselves.

Not just their hardware.

Their appearance. Their identity. Their clothing. Their culture.

This project is an early exploration of what that could look like - a speculative wardrobe for the non-human, built by translating the language of historical craft into robotic skin, clothing and adornment.

Because fashion has always been about more than covering a body.

It is how a body becomes part of a culture.

Source pieces - The Met Open Access

Two Bronze Helmets — Greek, Cretan, late 7th c. BCE, bronze → green patinated head

Ram's-head Amulet — Kushite, c. 712–664 BCE, gold → the horn, across all heads

Helmet (Sallet) — Spanish, Nasrid Granada, late 15th c., gold and cloisonné enamel → gold head

Helmet all'Antica — Filippo Negroli, Milan, c. 1532–35, steel → silver head

Tray with women and boys on a garden terrace — China, Yuan dynasty, 14th c., carved red lacquer → red head

Face jug — Edgefield District, South Carolina, c. 1850–80, alkaline-glazed stoneware → tan head

Face jug — Edgefield District, c. 1850–80, mottled green with iron spotting → grey-green head

Cup plate — American pressed glass, 1832–35 → blue head

Clock case — Italian, 17th c., painted and gilded wood → the room