DESIGN WINNER: XIAO-YUN CHANG

Taiwan Design Winner 2022: XIAO YUN CHANG

16th January 2023

Xiao-Yun Chang has always had a love for disassembling and building objects – she has worked with a range of materials including metal, ceramics and glass. Whilst studying Craft Design in College she was introduced to leather, and found its charm and durability incredibly appealing. Her project is based on Origami, a common children‘s entertainment activity and worship ritual [or funeral offering] in Taiwan.

INTERVIEW WITH XIAO-YUN

Tell us about the inspiration behind your project:

Origami can transform the original flat form of paper into endless 3D possibilities. Leather is not as thin as paper and can’t be folded into sharp edges; so, I thinned the leather and laser-engraved the folds inside without the need to mould. I converted the common materials that can be used for lamps into leather, removed the stitching and used the fewest joints to make it look integrally formed. I punched some light-transmitting points on the surface of the leather to increase the interest and render the space through the light points to create Origami.

What has been your experience in working with leather for this competition?

My experience has been focused on changing the shape of leather. Folding the leather like origami requires more attention to the individual elements of the garment rather than simply sewing the leather together as each leather parts maintains a different level of stiffness to them.

How do you think winning this competition will impact your career as a designer?

Winning the Gold Award in this design competition has for the first time made me realize that there is so much potential for leather, it shouldn’t be restricted to just being used in the most common way to make an object.

How has this competition influenced your view of working with leather in the future?

There must be many undiscovered possibilities for leather. I hope that in the future, the leather industry will develop as close to the life of Taiwanese as my Origami design.