Silver Costume and Heritage Wear Design · 2024
Turandot Armor Costume
- A' Design Award 2024 Silver Winner in Costume and Heritage Wear Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Cynthia Gomez
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 86,901
- Verification code 8F4FA1E119 · Verify this award
About Turandot Armor Costume
The costume industry generates pieces that become obsolete when the season ends, because they can rarely be used again. So, of this problem was that a sustainable costume project was proposed, which present a design for an operatic outfit using sustainable techniques such as upcycling with knitting deadstock and a creation of biomaterials made from orange waste based on the circular economy. The project seeks to reuse existing materials and develop new materials in order to counteract pollution in fashion.
Within the lineage of theatrical costume design that spans from the elaborate court masques of the seventeenth century through the revolutionary stage designs of the early twentieth-century avant-garde, this work by Cynthia Gómez Ramírez demonstrates a sophisticated synthesis of historical reference and contemporary innovation. The costume appears to engage with traditions of operatic spectacle while reimagining armor not as rigid protection but as flowing, organic form that emphasizes the body's expressive potential rather than concealing it beneath impenetrable surfaces. The designer demonstrates remarkable facility in material juxtaposition, pairing what appears to be densely constructed, quilted textile in deep crimson with delicate, translucent ornamental elements that catch and transmit light with jewel-like luminosity. The sculptural collar, rising in commanding verticality, references historical modes of ceremonial dress from multiple traditions, including Elizabethan ruffs, ecclesiastical vestments, and Eastern imperial regalia, yet transforms these citations through contemporary silhouette and material handling. Particularly noteworthy is the integration of decorative elements across the shoulder and chest region, where amber-toned forms create visual rhythm and textural counterpoint while suggesting organic growth, crystalline formation, or ritualistic adornment. The photographic presentation itself functions as part of the design statement, with theatrical lighting and deep shadow emphasizing the costume's dimensional complexity and dramatic presence. One might observe how the relationship between body and garment proposes transformation rather than mere covering, the wearer becoming something other, elevated into archetypal presence through the mediating power of dress. What might the viewer discover when contemplating how costume functions as a threshold between individual identity and performed persona?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- In each production the costume industry generates pieces for each character and at the end these become obsolete because they can rarely be used again
It was from this problem that this sustainable costume project emerged, which proposes the design of an operatic outfit using sustainable techniques such as upcycling and the creation of biomaterials made from orange waste
The project seeks to reuse existing materials and develop new materials in order to counteract pollution in fashion - Dimensions & Packaging
- the dress knitting mesure 80mm x 10mm x 180mm
the armor biomaterial mesure 60 mm x 5mm x 50mm - Tags
- biomaterial, upcycling, deadstock, sustainability, costume design
- Production Technology
- For the armor, the circular economy theory was used, taking advantage of orange peel waste for the production of biomaterials, made with gelatin, glycerin and the orange substrate.
The dress was made from reusing deadstock knitted fabric, using the quilting technique to generate the patches and color gradient in the piece, everything was handmade. - Design Challenge
- the hardest part of the design was the funcionality of the project, with the upcycling tecnique using knitting deadstock, and the elaboration of the formula with the orange sustrat in the biomaterial.
- Project Duration
- started en january 2022 in Mexico City and finished in july 2022
- Operation Flow
- is a costume so it can be exhibit in a display maniqui.
- Research
- We sought to impact the costume industry through sustainability and innovation, the piece was for an opera singer which implied movement and comfort. We use design thinking for our research, doing interviews, searching for sustainable materials and technology that would help us
Regarding biomaterials we experimented with many fruit substrates up to orange peel, which has the best properties.
As for the dress, we had many fittings to see the feasibility in terms of weight, structure and comfort so that she could perform. - Inspiration
- The costume is inspired by Giacomo Puccini's Turandot opera, which symbolizes the princess's self-confinement in the face of interpersonal relationships, which is why her face is covered with an immense neck that protects her from love. An Upcycling tecnique was used with the patch-working, reusing textile waste to give it a second life.
In the same way, an armor made with substrate biomaterials from the orange waste, represents the sentimental barriers of Princess Turandot. - Image Credits
- Image #1: Opcional Image #1: Opcional Image #2: Opcional Image #3: Opcional Image #4: photographer Silvetre García, hairdesigner Ignazio Muñoz, makeup artist Enrique Santana
Video Credits: Cynthia Gómez
Colors of Turandot Armor Costume
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