I pulled out a photo of a clown and toy-related exhibition I saw in Shanghai in early 2021 as my first-hand research. There are all kinds of puppets in clown costumes and lots of scary dolls in the exhibition. I found a lot of dolls in big pants, baggy costumes. The doll’s makeup was terrifying, with bloodshot eyes and black lips. Therefore, I found many people with red eyes to take photos.

I also searched the Internet for some other interesting costumes, such as some orb costumes, which are obviously completely different from our normal costumes. There were also giant, scaled-up dresses with models hunched over their necks. This reminds me of the Victorandrolf Spring/summer 2022 collection, where all the clothes are above the neck and have strange shapes.

Another important element of the clown costume is the suspenders, which I think can be combined with Gacy’s story to add the bondage element. So I went to the artist Anna Revila. She has a deep understanding of Japanese bondage culture. In her work, Anna applies binding and knotting rope technology to elements of nature.