Yasu Whekang.

THE CYCLOSA SPIDER’S WEB

Fashion student of Central Saint Martins BA, Yasu Whekang, created this piece titled “Eat or be Eaten”, highlighting the concept of individuals navigating through the ‘forest’ of society. The headpiece strongly resembles the web design of the Cyclosa Spider from its woven circular patterns and elements that radiate a sense of delicacy and complexity all at once.

Cyclosa spiders are known for their unique web structures, often using debris, egg sacs and other materials as part of the ‘stabilimenta’, the structures made of silk to help camouflage the spider. The spiders arrange this debris in a line down the center of their web, often in spiral patterns, which also give the form its stability.

The circular elements in these webs are created by the spiders strategically placing silk in circular patterns and working with their own precision for the web to be secure while also serving as a trap. while the layered silk creates a strong contrast with the way the spiders constantly repeat the same motions in order to create the design and its strong white color.

This headpiece mirrors the web structure by the number of times that the material had to be wrapped, bent and reinforced in order to make up its whirled shape. Yasu Whekang used tethered clothing tags to simulate the threads of the spider’s web and the tags were purposely placed in loops that wrap around the wearer’s head in circles, echoing the spiral patterns seen in Cyclosa webs. As you look closer at this headpiece, the tags stick out in all directions, giving off an uneasy-itchy feeling, sort of close to the feeling spiders give people.

The way the tags are clustered and extended outward mimics the spider’s use of debris and silk, creating this visual and physical texture. The dark, matte color of the headpiece contrasts with the light-reflective nature of real spider silk, however, the overall effect remains strikingly similar in terms of form and complexity. Both the headpiece and the spider’s web display a sense of fragility and resilience. That’s what came to mind when I came across this piece of work.

Designer @yasu_whekang