Aurum

A racing suit for a body that does not race. That was the first line in the design notes. The silhouette came from motorsport. The material came from somewhere older. Gold satin that catches every light source in the room and throws it back harder than it arrived. The fabric was chosen because it refuses to be subtle. Aurum does not whisper. It announces.

The artwork is Japanese woodblock style. Waves and figures and natural forms rendered in the flat graphic language of ukiyo-e. The base was printed onto the satin and then hand-embellished with additional gold and red detail work across the torso and arms. The embellishment took 200 hours on its own. Every line was painted by hand with a brush smaller than a pencil. The print gives the shape. The hand work gives the life.

The black collar and cuffs provide structure and contrast. Ribbed knit that holds its shape through thousands of cycles of robotic movement. The collar frames the robotic head the way a frame holds a painting. The cuffs lock at the wrist joint and do not ride up regardless of arm position or speed of movement. Elastic grip at the ankle cuffs serves the same purpose. Nothing shifts. Nothing rides. Nothing bunches.

When the robot stands still in Aurum it looks like a statue. Something gilded and ancient pulled from a temple. When it moves the satin shifts and the artwork ripples. The waves on the torso panel actually appear to move. That is not an illusion. That is what satin does when it is cut on the bias and stretched across an articulating body. The lightest piece in the collection at 1.4 kilograms. Light enough that the robot does not know it is dressed.