THE FAILED SEPARATION

/未竟的分离/






THE FAILED SEPARATION explores fragmented identities within Hong Kong's highly institutionalised working environment. Inspired by Severance and informed by observations of office spaces, architecture, and workplace culture, the project translates the notion of "failed separation" into a fashion narrative.Combining AI-assisted image generation, material experimentation, structural investigation, and draping, the project develops a design language through negative-space cutting, hybrid materials, and transformable garment systems, exploring the shifting relationship between order and nature, institutional identity and the authentic self.


《未竟的分离》以香港高密度职场环境为背景，探讨个体在制度化工作体系中不断分裂却无法真正分离的身份状态。受《人生切割术》（Severance）启发，项目结合香港办公空间、建筑环境与职场文化的观察，将“未竟的逃离”转化为服装叙事。设计融合AI辅助生成、材料实验、结构研究与立体裁剪，发展出负形剪裁、混合材料与可转换穿着系统，在秩序与自然、制度身份与真实自我之间建立持续转换的关系，以服装回应当代工作体系中的身份异化。




PROJECT EVOLUTION

项目演进














The early stage of this project focused on concept development and design research. Inspired by the daily lives of young migrant workers in Hong Kong, I explored how the repetitive routine between cramped living spaces and high-density office environments gradually erodes their sense of time and identity, leading to emotional numbness and alienation. To build the project's visual language, I combined research on Hong Kong's urban environment, photographic imagery, and the visual metaphors in Severance. I also studied the evolution of women's workwear throughout the twentieth century and analyzed the costumes in the series, extracting design elements such as order, restraint, and structured silhouettes. These studies formed the foundation for the following garment development.


项目前期主要围绕概念建立与设计调研展开。我以香港年轻移工的生活状态为切入点，关注他们长期处于狭小居所与高密度办公空间之间，在重复、高压的节奏中逐渐失去时间感与自我意识，最终陷入麻木与异化。围绕这一主题，我结合香港城市空间、摄影作品及《Severance（人生切割术）》中的视觉隐喻，构建项目的情绪氛围与叙事语言。同时，我梳理了20世纪女性职场服装的发展历程，并分析剧中的职场着装特征，从中提炼出规整、紧身、秩序化等设计语言，为后续服装廓形与结构设计奠定基础。






                     


This stage focused on silhouette development and form exploration. Using AI, I reinterpreted characters from Severance to extract silhouettes inspired by body movement, mesh structures, and geometric box forms, exploring visual expressions of control and restraint. These digital concepts were then translated into a series of physical material and form explorations. By investigating different combinations of tailored fabrics, mesh materials, and geometric structures, I explored the spatial relationship between softness and rigidity, enclosure and restriction, gradually establishing the silhouette and structural language of the collection.


这一阶段主要围绕廓形发展与形态实验展开。我借助 AI 对《人生切割术》中的人物形象进行再创作，从人物动态、网状结构与几何盒子形态中提炼服装廓形，探索控制与束缚的视觉表达。随后，我将这些数码概念转化为实体材料与形态实验，通过西装面料、网状材料与几何结构的组合与推演，研究柔软与坚硬、包裹与限制之间的空间关系，并逐步确立系列服装的廓形与结构语言。









This stage focused on the development of pattern design based on negative space. Building on the symbolism of plants in Severance as a form of healing, I shredded employee profiles and reassembled the fragments into leaf silhouettes, expressing how personal identity is deconstructed under institutional control while generating the possibility of reconstruction through natural imagery.Based on this, I extracted the negative spaces of the leaf forms as a foundation for pattern development, and integrated them with earlier explorations of mesh structures, geometric box forms, and tailored silhouettes. Through iterative digital modelling and toile draping, I continuously refined the relationship between structure and the body, ultimately establishing a unified deconstructed silhouette and structural language for the collection.


这一阶段主要围绕负形剪裁的设计发展展开。我延续《人生切割术》中植物作为治愈象征的隐喻，将员工档案碎纸后重新拼组成植物叶片轮廓，以表达个人身份在制度控制下被解构，并在自然意象中生成重构的可能。在此基础上，我提取叶片的负形空间作为剪裁依据，并将其与前期网纱、几何盒子与西装结构实验的廓形结果进行整合。通过数码建模与白坯立裁的反复验证，我不断调整结构与人体之间的关系，最终形成系列服装统一的解构式廓形与结构语言。









This stage focused on print narrative development and material translation.Extending the symbolic system of Severance, the goats in the series are interpreted as figures sacrificed within an invisible institutional structure. Using AI-generated imagery, I developed a visual evolution of the goats across four emotional stages: Innocence, Escape, Struggle, and Numbness, illustrating the gradual alienation of the individual under systemic pressure. These images were then reworked with visual effects such as motion blur and halftone, translated into two transitional digital print patterns and applied onto the previously developed negative-space cutting structures, creating a layered relationship between image and garment construction.

Furthermore, I transformed the 2D prints into 3D material textures through hand-felted wool processes, reconstructing organic, mist-like surfaces on mesh bases to create a soft and blurred tactile expression. Finally, thermochromic fabric was introduced to create a dynamic system of concealment and revelation. In its neutral state, the fabric appears as dark abstract surfaces; when touched or heated by the body, the underlying goat imagery gradually emerges, forming an interactive narrative of hidden and revealed identities.


这一阶段围绕印花叙事与材料转化展开，延续《人生切割术》的隐喻体系，剧中的山羊被视为在隐形体制中被牺牲的个体象征。我通过 AI 生成山羊在四个阶段的视觉演变——纯真、逃离、挣扎与麻木，呈现个体在制度压力下逐渐异化的过程。在此基础上，通过运动模糊与半色调等视觉处理，将图像转化为两组过渡性数码印花，并应用于负形剪裁结构中，建立图像与服装之间的叠合关系。接下来进一步通过手工羊毛毡工艺，将二维印花转化为三维材料肌理，在网纱底布上形成雾状与有机蔓延的触觉效果。最后引入感温变色面料，使图像在遮蔽与显现之间产生动态变化：常态下呈现抽象压抑的黑色形态，受热后底层山羊图像逐渐显现，形成关于隐藏与揭示的交互叙事。









This stage focused on a reversible wearing system, developing the design from colour, material, to construction, transitioning from experimental research to garment realization. Drawing from the visual language of Severance, a core palette of cool grey, deep blue, dark green, and light green was extracted from the series’ spatial environments to establish the overall visual tone.

Building on this, 100% natural teak leaves were combined with industrial suiting fabrics, while the dense grid structure of Hong Kong’s urban landscape was translated into topstitching patterns on suiting fabric, producing a surface that conveys both order and spatial tension.Through silhouette development and draping experiments, I tested the feasibility of a double-sided wearing system, allowing natural materiality and tailored structure to coexist and transform within a single garment. This process culminated in the final development and construction of two key looks.


这一阶段围绕双面穿着结构展开，从色彩、材料到结构系统推进设计由实验走向成衣。设计灵感延续《人生切割术》的视觉语境，通过剧集场景提取由冷灰、深蓝、墨绿与浅绿构成的核心色彩体系，并建立整体视觉基调。在此基础上，将100%柚木叶与工业化西装面料进行结合，同时将香港高密度城市建筑的网格结构转译为西装表面的明线绗缝，使面料呈现秩序与压迫并存的视觉状态。进一步通过款式推演与立裁实验，验证双面穿着结构的可能性，使自然材料与正装剪裁在同一服装中实现共存与转换，并最终完成两组核心Look的纸样与结构定型。















This stage focused on the final presentation of the collection and the establishment of a complete garment system through a six-look line-up that defines the overall visual rhythm and material language.Look 1 and Look 2 were developed through draping and structural refinement into a reversible system (Form A / Form B), enabling a dual-wear design logic.Industrial pattern making and technical standardisation translated experimental structures into an executable garment system, culminating in the final visual presentation through the Lookbook.


这一阶段完成系列最终呈现与成衣系统建立，通过六套服装的Line-up确立整体视觉节奏，并统一色彩与材料语言。Look 1与Look 2通过立裁与结构调整发展为双重形态系统（Form A / Form B），实现一衣两穿的设计逻辑。通过工业纸样与工艺规范，将实验性结构转化为可执行的成衣体系，并最终通过Lookbook完成系列整体视觉呈现。





FINAL PRESENTATION

成片展示




















10/2025-01/2026