Fashion is Fiction.
A re-imagination of Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment as a retro-futuristic dystopian film.
My approach to fashion can be summarized as „fashion is fiction“. As a culture we consume fictions in the form of books and movies, but I believe through fashion we have the chance to participate in them in our daily life. Like a secret that only the wearer is in on, a tool for them to shape their mood, or to emphasize an aspect of their personality.
Fashion as fiction can help us feel more courageous, feel comfort in our vulnerability, feel justified in our anger, and deserving of happiness.
I created a capsule collection with both day-wear and evening-wear pieces for petite women, who like to dress in a hyper-feminine but comfortable way, who like fashion to have a sense of humor and like to stand out. The presentation serves to initiate the wearer into the fiction, by communicating the themes of the concept.
As key visuals for the collection, I juxtaposed film stills from my personal Screenshot-Archive with dialogue quotes from Dostoyevsky's "Crime & Punishment", as an alternative to producing my own campaign photos of the garments in the collection (due to budget and time limits). Recontextualizing these quotes helps bring the theme of the collection to life.
To underline the transformative aspect of fashion, how it can help us slip into character and romanticize aspects our lives, I wanted to elevate the process of putting the garments on by designing my own garment rack. The goal was to create a piece of furniture that could be used in a performative way in the presentation of the collection, as well as hold and present all the garments and brand collaterals in a showroom, boutique or at an event.
I designed the garment rack and agm Metallbau GmbH produced it.
To accommodate the many high-necked garments (and, as a bonus, make it a bit less intuitive for visitors to lift them off the 360° rack) I designed and produced a limited run of collapsible hangers from tortoiseshell acrylic.
Meat Print Textile Design: Anna Marchini Camia
Shoe Production assistant: Reto Emmenegger
Graduate Collection Presentation Video:
Music: "four ethers" by serpentwithfeet
Video Concept & Edit: Linda Dagli Orti
Cinematography: Nicolas Heitz, Yannik Zamboni, Anique Wild
© Institute of Fashion Design, FHNW Academy of Art and Design 2018