Dress Code is a browser-based, generative patchwork piece that features language sourced from Gucci’s instagram captions over the past twelve years. It includes over 200 adjectives lifted from the fashion house’s social media posts. Pulling from this collection of words and a curated set of unicode symbols, the program renders a randomly chosen element repeatedly in each patch, mimicking a method used for printed fabric.

Symbols and signifiers combine in one’s personal wardrobe to produce an ever-shifting expression of identity. On sewguide.com, Sarina Tariq comments on the function of a dress code: “Above all, It clears confusion for most people as to what is expected of them … When there are set rules, it is easy to follow them.” This piece breaks down to a set of rules: Lines of code for a computer to follow. Object-oriented, like fashion, and striving to never appear exactly the same twice.

View the work live at https://dresscode.rodeo.