The Fashion and the Muse project that was encorporated into my Diversity Now submission was a completely eye opening experience. We were to source our own muse from around the city of Edinburgh and use them to design and make a dress, to their measurements, that posessed both our research topics and the muse. This task emphasised the importance of emotionally considerate design, our job as designers to stay in touch with who our client is, a personal and empowering approach to how fashion design can make people feel.
My research began along the lines of racism within the fashion industry. Something so outdated is still so apparent in an industry that prides itself on innovation and future development. Researching into different cultures and their views of beauty and appreciation of the body, so I, myself was not as naive towards other cultures.
Finding Jacinta in the local library, striking hair and african jewellery, she told me that she was originally from Mozambique but had lived in Edinburgh for nearly 30 years. I wanted to draw on this cross-cultural heritage by using the linear qualities of all the places that made up Jacinta's geographical life and use those as pattern pieces for her dress.
Once the initial shapes and lines were created through stand work, I wanted to make sure that these were proportionate and the most flattering for Jacinta, as with a bespoke piece - your concern should lie with your client. I set upon sketching ontop of her template and showed these to her in order to make decisions as a team before we decided on the final dress design and colour way.
