Butterfly Knot Harness-Halter

Title

Year/Period

2019

Region

Singapore

Object Type

halters (main garments)

Material

polyester (fiber), metal

Technique

sewing (needleworking technique), attaching (process), knotting

Dimension

Object size: 234.0 x 22.0 x 3.5 cm

Accession No.

2023-00038

Collection of

Asian Civilisations Museum

The Butterfly Knot Harness-Halter was part of Shawna Wu’s Bound collection. Her signature use of butterfly knots was inspired by the Chinese legend Butterfly Lovers, a tragic love story set in the Eastern Jin dynasty (AD 317–420) between Zhu Yingtai, daughter of wealthy Zhu family, who cross-dressed to attend school, and Liang Shanbo, her best friend from school-turned foster brother and then lover.Wu is a New York City based designer of Taiwanese descent who was born and raised in Singapore. A graduate from Parsons School of Design, she explores her heritage and themes of fetishism in her work. She also uses primarily deadstock, upcycled and sustainable materials.