Hilda Yang

CODING OF ORDER

Fashion - BA (Hons)

School of Art

hildayang993@gmail.com

Hilda Yang portfolio Website

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Project description

This project explores the Industrial Revolution’s impact, particularly how mechanisation reshaped textile production and workers’ lives. Fascinated by the intricate structures of Scottish lace machines and the stories of female labourers, I analyse the structured logic of industrial machinery through laser-cutting techniques, investigating the intersection of technology and human labour. Growing up on the Xinjiang grasslands, I draw inspiration from the Mongolian epic Jangar, a mythical utopia passed down by my grandmother. Alongside this, the instinctive craft of wool felt-making in my hometown—where women gather to roll, cut, and sew vibrant totemic patterns—deeply connects me to tradition and community. The contrast between industrial precision and organic craftsmanship defines my design approach. By integrating modular 3D mechanical fabrics with laser cutting, wool felt making, and bamboo weaving, I honour the labour and creativity of women across regions and histories. My work bridges machine-driven structures with the spiritual depth of traditional craft, creating a dialogue between innovation and heritage while reimagining cultural identity in a future context.

LOOK1-“Moult”

LOOK2-"The Finale"

LOOK3-“ Dusk over Bumba”

LOOK4-“ First Light”

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

As a designer from the grasslands of Xinjiang studying in Edinburgh, I embody the convergence of two vastly different systems: the mechanized order of industrialized textiles and the instinctive processes of traditional felt-making. Migration, in this sense, becomes not only a geographical journey but also a space where disparate cultural codes intertwine.

Through my work, I explore how this blending of systems creates new narratives of identity, heritage, and cultural exchange. By reimagining these codes within textile design and visual storytelling, I seek to highlight the richness of hybrid identities born from migration and cultural interaction.

Theme1- RULES AND ORDER BEHIND MACHINERY

At the start of my graduate project, I contacted MYB Textiles in Scotland and was grateful to receive both a factory visit opportunity. During my visit, I was captivated by the precision and complexity of their lace machinery. It was during this time that I also encountered the Living with Machines project, which explores how technology during the Industrial Revolution transformed the lives of ordinary people.This theme captivated me — particularly the way industrial machinery shaped the logic and structure of textile production. The mechanical creation of lace, madras, knitting, and weaving all followed a distinct system of coding and order. I began to see how this intricate logic, operating at a micro-scale, has quietly embedded itself into the textiles we wear every day.

This intricate logic, existing on a micro-scale, has seamlessly integrated itself into the fabrics I wear every day. Inspired by this, I magnified this mechanized microstructure and extracted the interlocking logic of knitted textiles. Using laser-cutting techniques, I developed my own interlocking fabric, reinterpreting this mechanical order into a new material language.

Research-THE CODING OF MACHINERY

research-THE “ALTERNATIVE”CLOTHING UNDER MACHINERY

Theme2-Epic of the Grasslands

Another part of my research draws from the mythic epic of Jangar — a story I grew up loving during my childhood on the grasslands of Xinjiang. In the tale, my hometown is called Bumba, literally meaning “the spring water container” — a symbol of origin, and the womb of all life on the steppe. I bring the magical world of Jangar into my work, transforming childhood imagination into a bridge that reconnects me with my homeland. This surreal utopia becomes a projection of my evolving sense of cultural and ethnic belonging. It links my past experiences with an imagined future — unreal, yet persistently beautiful. Through the poetic vision of Bumba, I explore the invisible codes and systems my homeland has inscribed within me — a personal mythology shaped by memory, distance, and the quiet order of the grasslands.

Research-THE CODING OF STEPPE

FABRIC DEVELOPMENT

Drawing inspiration from the structural logic of mechanized textile systems and my childhood memories of life on the grasslands, I designed a wing-shaped modular unit embedded within a coded pattern. This became the foundation of what I call the feather-coded fabric—a textile system that mimics the rhythm and form of feathers through modular repetition, symbolizing movement, freedom, and fluid identity. It builds a material connection between engineered precision and the lived vitality of grassland culture.

Development-design through prototyping

Pre-collection

Color & Textile

The color palette is inspired by my childhood imagination of the mythical Bumba grasslands from the epic of Jangar, as well as my own hazy memories of the prairie where I grew up. To me, Bumba represents a timeless utopia—a surreal and poetic realm that transcends reality.

Through soft gradients and dreamlike tones, I sought to recreate the dawn and dusk of Bumba as I envision it in my subconscious. These atmospheric colors are translated into fabric, forming a playful ‘dream space’ within the design—intended to evoke a sense of illusion and quiet wonder.