While studying abroad at University of Arts London: Central Saint Martins during the fall semester of 2019, my final project prompt had been to address the theme of dystopia. The outcomes were to consist of a designed collection of four looks or more and one look fully realized in its three dimensional object-hood.
I approached the theme by directing my initial visual research at images of excessive consumption, a phenomenon which plagues post-modern American society, and indeed seems to define it in many respects. From here, I imagined a sort of post-apocalyptic world where modern society has entirely collapsed as we know it, and material goods were not only still desired, but had become hyper-fetishized, serving as religious idols and were prized for their symbolic value of power through wealth and excess.
I then began to collect visual references of 15th and 16th century Christian religious dress worn by bishops, priests, and others in positions of authority within the church, largely out of interest in the way religious adornment and decoration of the body was presented. I also researched contemporary photographs of African tribes which have continued to live traditional lives in rejection of colonization and modernity, for their ability to maintain traditions and culture through numerous global cultural zeitgeists over hundreds of years. I examined largely headdress and facial decoration, as well as some forms of clothing.
As I began compiling, collaging research, and collecting physical objects, I found myself drawn to toys as I searched through gift shops, thrift stores, and even discarded objects on the street. As I imagined a world of humans, still clinging to the ideas of consumerism, while being forced into a closer relationship with the Earth as humankind had experienced during the dawn of its existence, I began to understand it as a reversal of the experience of a child receiving its first ever toy and being slowly transitioned from a natural existence to one of consumption, driven by modern society.
The idea of these post-apocalyptic humans clinging to, and indeed revering, the vestiges of a lost world reminded me of a scared child clutching their favorite toy for comfort. The visual image that was emerging during this stage of the process was very interesting to me, and it was here I decided I would utilize only found objects for the creation of the look and the design of the collection.
Model: @pjcobbinah
Photographer: @adrian_at_hersheons
Initial Research
Developing Lineup
Collaging research
Secondary object-based research
Further developed lineup
Developing and making the look
Development of hat
Development of shoulder bag
Development and physical experimentation of rope necklace
Muslin
Creating the look
Initial design for hat
Hat redesign
Photoshoot
