Even with her mom’s help, Alexandra Russell spent weeks collecting, unwrapping and rinsing the lube off 2,000 condoms that she then hung up to drip dry all around her home.
“My uncles would drop by and laugh at what we were doing,” says Russell.
Her 87-year-old grandfather, who lives with Russell and her mom, was supportive right from the start. “He knew it was for a good cause.”
Russell’s cause: Changing Gen Z behaviours around practising safe sex.
Winning over teens and 20-somethings who think they’re invincible when it comes to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was the focus of Russell’s semester-long project in the School of Interdisciplinary Science’s creative science communication course.
“It’s important that our generation gets comfortable talking about our sexual health with our partners,” she says.
“We shouldn’t be ashamed to get protection — it should be as natural as going to the drugstore to buy a bottle of shampoo. We shouldn’t be afraid to get tested and we need to educate ourselves about the signs and symptoms of sexually transmitted infections.”
For her project, Russell focused on syphilis, an STI transmitted through vaginal, anal and oral sex.
Syphilis is the fastest rising STI among young Canadians — infection rates are soaring to levels not seen since the 1950s. Detected early, it can be cured. But left untreated, syphilis can cause serious long-term health problems, damaging the heart, brain and other organs. It can also pass through the placenta to a developing fetus.
Making the dress
With Gen Z as her primary audience, Russell created and self-published a syphilis-themed zine. She knew it needed an attention-grabbing cover. She could’ve used a stock photo or an A.I.-generated image.
But Russell saw an opportunity to combine her passions for science, fashion and art: She decided to replicate the cover of a high-end fashion magazine, with a model wearing a one-of-a-kind, safe-sex-themed dress.
And so began the collecting, unwrapping, rinsing and air-drying of 2,000 condoms.
It would be the second eye-catching dress Russell designed in under a year. She’d previously spent a term at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore on an exchange program.
At Nanyang, she took a course in body-centric design that examined how tech complements the body. Russell had to research, design and create a reactive wearable project. She decided to turn the body’s lymphatic system inside out and put it on a dress.
Ordering supplies from Amazon wasn’t an option, so she scrounged up whatever materials she could find on campus, using cables, beads and toile coated in jelly wax. The dress was a hit and wound up being displayed on campus.
Back at Mac, ordering from Amazon for her second dress still wasn’t an option: A box of 1,000 condoms cost $300.
So Russell reached out to sexual health clinics, explained her science communication project and asked for donations. A couple of clinics were happy to help, giving Russell condoms that had passed their best-before dates and could no longer be used as intended.
Russell designed the dress to communicate both the problem of sexually transmitted infections and the solution: She wrapped the corset in news headlines and stories about the return of syphilis. The 2,000 donated condoms and dental dams — the best way to curb the STI’s spread — were sewn together to make the skirt.
She chose a Victorian-style dress to underscore how the stigma and shame that surrounded syphilis in the 19th century continues to this day. “We’re still uncomfortable talking about it.”
The reaction to her dress was both expected and unexpected. Russell knew some people would be offended and trolls would weigh in. “I think I riled up a bunch of 13-year-old boys online.”
And while her dress also got rave reviews, it grabbed attention without sparking as many conversations as she had hoped. “People looked at the dress but didn’t always see the underlying message I was hoping to get across.”
The months spent making the dress were still worth the time and effort, Russell says.
“I was very shy growing up and stayed in my comfort zone. But I pushed myself with this project. I learned how fulfilling it is to come up with a big, bold and controversial idea. With the right idea, you can grab attention, start conversations and change minds.”
A unique way to communicate
Assistant professor Alexander Hall, a science communications expert in the School of Interdisciplinary Science, supervised Russell’s project.
“With most students, I’m pushing them to bring more technical and scientific data into their projects,” Hall says. “With Alexandra, I kept encouraging her to be more creative.”
He told Russell yet another public service announcement on social media wouldn’t cut through the noise
“The problem isn’t that people need to know everything about the biology of syphilis – the problem is how to change attitudes and behaviours around practising safe sex.”
Of the many students Hall has supervised, Russell was the first to communicate science through fashion. “What Alexandra did went so far beyond what I’d originally imagined she could do. Her work is truly impressive.”
He’s encouraged Russell to continue bringing together science and fashion. “Alexandra has a unique perspective and there’s definitely an opportunity there to carve out a niche as a science communicator by combining those two worlds.”
Hall can see high-end fashion brands promoting Russell’s creations to associate with causes that matter to their customers.
After graduating in June with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Russell enrolled in the Fine Arts program at York University. She’s now the mature student in classes full of 17-year-olds. She’ll complete the four-year program in two years thanks to all the credits she was able to transfer from her Mac degree.
Her long-term plan is to build a career out of exploring both the interdisciplinary connections between biology, healthcare, visual arts and the role of creativity in shaping how science is communicated.