In Christina Ernst’s viral designs, fashion meets coding and engineering. The 28-year-old founder of She Builds Robots talks about what goes into creating her whimsical projects.

Chicago

Christina Ernst, a software engineer and designer, is gaining attention for her innovative approach to fashion by integrating technology such as robotics, AI facial recognition, and 3D printing into her designs. Through her platform SheBuildsRobots, Ernst shares tutorials and showcases her creations, which have resonated particularly with young women and inspired many to start their own coding projects.

Ernst emphasizes the importance of experimentation and persistence, often going through multiple prototypes before achieving her desired results. She encourages others to draw on their diverse interests and utilize available resources to develop new skills, regardless of their technical background.

Could ‘fashioneering’ be a future trend?

Could fashioneering be a future trend? This isn't an ordinary skirt. Software engineer and designer Christina Ernst creates fantastical designs, combining her love of fashion with coding and circuitry. I like to say that we live in a world where technology is so advanced that we're functionally living in a magical world and we should dress accordingly. Ernst experiments with robotics, AI facial recognition and motorized 3D printing. Full code and instructions are to minimize the number of... Posting tutorials on her platform, SheBuildsRobots. Her designs have gone viral. Here's the update on my Medusa dress. It was really gratifying to see, you know, particularly the audience of young women being the primary consumers of this content, how intrigued they were to start their own coding projects. This is the stupidest thing I've ever made with my engineering degree. A Ratatouille-inspired headband she made for Halloween clocked up tens of millions of views across Instagram and TikTok. Ernst emphasizes that process is important. I really want to dispel the notion that I inherently know what I'm doing. So much of it is trial and error. And I think my computer engineering background and my software job really builds those skills of persistence, of debugging, of experimentation. I'll often go through six, seven, eight prototypes before I get close to something that works. The 28-year-old hopes her creations can continue to inspire. Try to experiment as much as possible. Draw on your strengths, draw on your different interests. Even if you don't have that tech background, do as much digging as you can, you know, through your public library or through your public institutions to see how you can start building your new skills and combining them in a way that speaks to your own passions.

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