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An illusion of “rebirth” created through an exploration of the craft of corsetry, bespoke tailoring and embroidery.

“Death isn’t necessarily as devastating as most make it out to be, and ignoring death is equally as dangerous as allowing it to consume you. It’s undeniable that death’s release has its own beauty -they do say that parting is such sweet sorrow. And what better way to come to terms with our own mortality than through clothing? It is, after all, an unavoidable and universal form of expression.”

Exploring the connection between dress and mortality, ‘Tailored Migration’ aims to celebrate the courage to live, whilst discussing the aspirations of womxn seeking to defy gender norms and inciting the ire of the intent on keeping us in our place. Depicted through a study of the corsetry, Victorian mourning customs, and raven symbolism, it aims to highlight the underlying power of clothing, used as a medium to portray the journey of “rebirth,” the transformation from a previously perceived identity to construct an ideal identity, which one wishes to inhabit. Drawing inspiration from the romantic poem conceived by the Italian poet, essayist, and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi, titled ‘Dialogo Della Moda E Della Morte’ (or ‘Dialogue Between Fashion and Death), I intend to portray the conceptual thought of the resurrection of a phoenix, personified as a womxn, through a contemporary collection.

A personal journey to reconstruct my perceived identity, this project intends to convey the idea of “clothing as armor,” a medium to instigate the spectator to view fashion as a form of Art: an escapism, to dream, whilst using it as a tool to construct a more empowered version of themselves in their psyche. A beautiful transition and exploration of finding beauty in the darkest of places through strong silhouettes and traditional hand stitching techniques (used in corsetry, bespoke tailoring as well as embroidery), I aim to portray the essence of feminine strength and beauty that is fearlessly and unabashedly free.

Employing an exploration into the works of photographer Joel Peter Wilkinson, taxidermist Rose Robson, and with a keen interest in British bespoke tailoring, Tailored Migration aims to distort the lines between the masculine and feminine characteristics, whilst investigating the transformative powers of fashion through a series of sharply tailored garments, displayed as memento mori. To dramatise it further by the words of the genius Miss Octavia E. Butler, I extend an invitation into the process of a womxn, who just like a phoenix “in order to rise from its own ashes, ... first must burn.”