[OVER]STIMULATED explores the presence of technology in our everyday lives and its possible long-term effects on us. Lauren Riley’s concept explores a fictional dystopian near future that includes glitches and malfunction from constant overexposure to technology.

Riley started her research with her migraines and digital technology as the trigger. This inspired her to look at the use of light within immersive technology which made her think about how we, as a society, are immersed in technology.

The collection’s looks explore manipulation techniques to showcase the distortion of reality that Riley researched. She also showed this through textures such as mesh which create an illusion with movement and fully immerse the body when worn.

Riley’s favourite aspect of her collection is the cyanotype light printing for creating her own unique, impactful textile, inspired by the ‘moiré’ pattern that our digital screens produce when photographed, making our eyes ‘go funny’.

This collection aims to create depth and movement and immerse the viewer with overstimulation to replicate technology’s effects on cognitive processing, encouraging us to think more about technology’s darker side and its rapid development in the digital world.