The Last Polyp‘s Glow

Titled *The Last Polyp's Glow*, this wearable art installation centers on the severe environmental crisis of global coral bleaching and marine ecosystem collapse. It combines sustainable fashion, interactive electronic programming and marine conservation popularization, delivering warnings and reflections on ocean protection through wearable art.

Research statistics reveal that 20% of the world’s coral reefs have gone extinct, and nearly 60% of corals are projected to die by 2030. Multiple human-induced threats including overfishing, excessive tourism, marine pollution and global warming continuously destroy coral habitats. These damages trigger a chain of disasters: loss of biodiversity, broken marine food chains, weakened coastal buffer zones and sharp declines in marine medical resources. Based on this research background, the work abandons traditional rigid environmental advocacy, and lets audiences intuitively perceive the crisis of coral extinction through immersive wearable clothing.

The garment takes coral ecosystems as its core styling inspiration. Layered mesh fabric mimics the stacked texture of natural corals; flame-shaped coral textures are created by scorching fabric with flame tools. Pearls and bead embroidery reproduce details of plankton and epibiotic marine species, while multi-layer fabric stacking reconstructs the original form of underwater coral thickets. Its production process covers complete traditional garment craftsmanship: pattern making, fabric selection, fabric cutting, hand bead sewing, skirt hemming and zipper installation. Meanwhile, it integrates Arduino microcontrollers, ultrasonic distance sensors and color-changing LED light strips, bridging handmade tailoring and digital programming.