Coccolithophore Dress

It was a pleasure to create a coccolithophore dress for the Plymouth Marine Laboratory with my students this summer. The dress was modelled on coccolithophore organisms and designed by Theatre Designer Jacqueline Slade. The commission was for PML's entry into The Royal Society's Summer Exhibition in London. The dress was an absolute success and helped bring a visual dynamic to understanding the importance of these vital organisms in marine ecology.

There was a wonderful moment during the exhibition run where a small boy made his mum take him back across London the next day just to see the dress!

When we had the commission, we brought together interested students from our course at Arts University Plymouth, and myself and Marie cut the costume. Marie worked on the jackets while I cut and created the base dress and skirt. The students then helped us with the application of countless Suffolk puffs and the 3D-printed coccolithophore plates. The plates were printed in our very own FabLab with recycled polymer filament.

The dress even had its own promenade down the Mall to pose in front of Buckingham Palace!