Bachelor's Degree Graduate Collection
London College of Fashion; BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear Design (2018)
Project correlating the design concept with its materiality through careful material selection that appropriately articulates the aims reflected in the design choices. This combination focuses on experimenting with circularity in making systems and leather alternatives, making a point to include the mushroom-based MuSkin at its core.
Turritopsis Nutricual, a species of jellyfish known for its immortality, lays at the starting point for inspiration. Contrasting the sturdy and protean lifecycle of this fascinating creature, ethereal tendrils of colour sculpt its delicate figure in the darkness of the ocean. Far from the bodily folds of leather, this fleeting buoyancy speaks to lightweight drapes and minute colour transitions.
The final collection was designed as a series of body objects that become nonsensical when not in use, alluding to the question of what value we place on fashion objects. By conflating garment and footwear techniques, the barrier between shoe and garment becomes fluid, and imbues these objects with a speculative quality that calls for each design element to challenge established tenets of footwear making. In particular, material and making methodology are thrust into the spotlight as a means to emphasize the prevalent wastefulness of traditional footwear making processes, as well as its translation to an industrial equivalent.
