Arts Thread

My Graduate Collection, Circus Freak on the University of Lancashire's catwalk show.

My Graduate Collection, Circus Freak, is primarily inspired by Victorian Circus costuming, 18th century Venetian masks and historic queer pornography. I explored the theme through embroidery, beading and latex fetishwear.

My Graduate Collection, Circus freak, is primarily inspired by Victorian Circus costuming, 18th century Venetian masks and historic queer pornography. I explored the theme through embroidery, beading and latex fetishwear.

My Circular Bridal Collection opperates on a more sustainable model for bridalwear, looking at monofibre textiles and their ability to be shredded and recycled, upcycling and rental over buying, aiming to reduce waste in the bridal subsection of teh fashion industry.

Hedonism Through The Ages explores the crossover between the carefree lifestyles of The Bright Young Things of the 1930's and modern day pop stars like Charli XCX; using Liberty Tana Lawn in their new Floral Rebellion print collection, zero waste pattern cutting and daringly revealing silhouettes.

The brief for this project was to make a fitted blazer to our measurements, inspired by a fashion house and our hobbies and interests. I chose clothsurgeon as my fashion house and themed my project around sewing, particularly how sewing skills are passed down through families.

My second year mini collection Reframing The Fear looks at the intersection of science and design and considers what is revealing in the context of menswear, while exploring the fears created by scientific developments. Drawing inspiration from the 1951 Festival Pattern Group’s atom-influences prints, these designs look forwards at new technology such as AI with a positive mindset. It uses layering, sculptural shapes and bright colours to communicate fun and optimism.

Sexy and subversive, this collection combines anonymity with freedom of expression using masks to conceal the wearer’s identity and revealing garments to explore their sexuality. The 18th Century Venetian Moretta (or muta) mask was the springboard which inspired a collection which explores simultaneously hiding and revealing yourself, using shaped cutouts to reveal layers beneath the outer garments. The silhouettes have been inspired by the romantic softness of the Selkie Libertine collection, layered with the edgy latex pieces from Richard Quinn. Historic and modern circus have also informed the prints and shaped cutouts. The bold text from the Victorian Circus tickets and advertising, has influenced the use of applique and free motion embroidery.

Utilitarian Fantasy is a gender-neutral collection with a theme of surrealism and dystopia. It combines typically masculine and feminine design with sculptural silhouettes and contrasting textures. I took inspiration from film (primarily Labyrinth and The Handmaid’s Tale as they share themes of dystopia and control), art, and the trend ‘Organic Subconscious’ which I researched as part of a group project. I was particularly inspired by the silhouettes of both the architecture and costuming of the film Labyrinth, which I used to experiment with different silhouettes. The monochrome, mixed texture costumes of The Handmaids Tale informed my colour and texture palettes.

As working from home increasingly takes our lives outdoors, the need for transitional garments that go from workout, to study and from hanging up the work phone to hanging out with friends. Playful Productivity provides comfortable activewear using natural fibres for sustanability and breathability styled with oversize layers that can be thrown on for a more put together look. The graphics come from a photo of my brother enjoying the outdoors, which I have combined with the Lululemon logo to create colourful on-brand prints.