Meet Chrome, the musician turning tech waste into wearable works of art

Taylor Jancetic wears many hats. The Chicago-born, Miami-based creative is a neuroscientist by day. But when she’s not knee-deep in research, she seamlessly morphs into her creative alter ego as the rising musician Chrome — and from time to time, that includes putting on a designer label, too. When given the opportunity to dress Canadian singer SadBoi for an upcoming Colors live performance, Jancetic rummaged through her archive, pulling from a heap of spontaneous upcycled garments she’s made over the years. One of those pieces just so happened to be a corset, a halter mock-neck made completely out of wired earphones.

Jancetic’s wire top stems from her fascination with fashion, technology, and nature, specifically how she can “glamorize” obsolete junk into wearable pieces of art. Step inside her universe, and you might catch her dressed in a repurposed electronic keyboard, a bikini made out of tablets, and exposed wires galore. “A lot of my [designs] came to be because I started using plastic bags and things like that,” she tells The FADER. “It was really me trying to find the good in waste.” Those themes spill over into her music, too, as one-half of the electronic-pop duo ALLERGi; alongside her partner Alex, they’re heavily influenced by industrial and techno aesthetics, pulling bits and bobs from their upbringing and their current base in Miami.

As the world’s desire and consumption of tech moves at lightning speed, Jancetic’s work is making the case for longevity: how fashion and technology can be the same and how everything, new and old, can have an extended lifespan. Ahead, get to know Jancetic as she talks about how her neuroscience research influences her art, how her collaboration with SadBoi came to be, and why she thinks a rejection of technology is in the cards for the future.

The FADER: How did you end up dressing SadBoi for her Colors live performance?

TAYLOR JANCETIC: It’s funny because as a designer, I don’t know what the final product is going to be or look like, and this was just one of those cases. I worked with a stylist named Brianna Dooley (@crushedleather) and we love each other’s work. She’s one of the only people in Miami that I absolutely trust to ship something across the country for. She reached out to me as she was working with SadBoi for the Colors performance. They were looking for a corset and the wiretop ended up being one of the few options I sent. I’m thankful that it looked as amazing as it did, and the whole team was very nice and accommodating to me. It was a cool experience.

When it comes to aesthetics, you lean toward the futuristic. How do you convey this through your work?

Right now, I’m getting my PhD and my focus is on identity in neuroscience, which is fun because I feel like it’s a super abstract creative concept. I see a lot of parallels in that kind of work. In the past couple of years, I’ve been seeing technology develop so rapidly. It’s insane how we’re so not ready for technology — its growth is too big of a gift that I don’t think humanity is prepared for it yet. I’m constantly thinking about how we can make sure that we’re not taking advantage of technology and where it’s going, but also, how to grapple with it. There are so many consequences of it in terms of climate change. I’m interested in how we can turn that into a positive thing, even though it has done so many devastating things to nature.

Do you have an idea of what we can do about that?

I think the way that I have made peace with it is by glamorizing waste in a way. At first, I hated waste and thought it was disgusting. Obviously, that’s the most natural response to have because it’s a byproduct of us not being careful with the environment. But I think there’s a point that we have to be like, “Okay, all those things are true, but this mindset isn’t going to help solve the problem.” I started to glamorize it and that’s how the wiretop came to be. A lot of my performances came to be because I started using plastic bags and things like that. It was really me trying to find the good in waste.

Could you elaborate on how your environment plays a role in your designs?

I love looking at the natural elements in the world, stripping things down to their core, and seeing how that relationship is reflected in technology. For example, I made a couple of corsets and I want to go for this wet corset illusion. I wanted to emphasize the movement of water and give my corsets that fluid plastic bag effect that resembles them floating in a river. I love that you can “see” air in a plastic bag, so I’ve been playing with that recently.

What are your predictions for the future of technology?

We’re already seeing hints of this right now, but I believe that there is going to be a massive subculture of kids who reject technology altogether, but somehow find a way to stay connected. I don’t necessarily see it as going off the grid. I think it’s going to be something entirely different.
I think there are going to be kids who never want to touch a smartphone because we’re already seeing kids who are feeling that way. I mean as a whole, technology can do good or bad — and honestly, I’m afraid of trends as they can branch off into not-so-necessary or productive ways.

Do you think we’re actually in a physical media renaissance?

I would love to tap into this for ALLERGi. But I don’t know how many people who are buying vinyls now, for example, are going to continue to buy them five years from now. I’m trying to think about how we can tap into physical media in a way that isn’t wasteful.

How did ALLERGi come to life?

[Alex and I] started [ALLERGi] about a year ago, so it’s all very fresh. I’ve always dipped my fingers into music like, “Oh, what if we did this or that?” It felt very natural for us to focus and put a name to what we were doing. We have a particular approach. He does the very technical stuff and I have the ideas. It’s fun because we’ve been developing what we call the “ALLERGi method.” For us, that includes featuring my knowledge of neuroscience and my approach to research, and implementing that into how we create music.

What are your musical inspirations?

I’m very inspired by science, and growing up, I loved sci-fi. A huge influence for me are people like Octavia Butler, Björk, and FKA Twigs. They understand what technology means in the sense of music, and that really speaks to me.

What can we expect from you and ALLERGi in the future?

We’re doing a show with Frost Children and Kumo 99. It’s going to be really exciting because I am fully immersed into the “natural element meets plastic” vibe, so that is something that you can look out for at the show. I have some other things cooking right now, but nothing set in stone just yet. We’re definitely going to debut concepts and visual aspects. But in general, I want to continue to marry all these different mediums and influences I have.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.