PLANET
UTERUS
Graduation collection presented during Lichting Amsterdam Fashion Week 2018





About
The fact that we create for the sake of creating “end products”, led me to doubt the sustainability of creation in general – andthus became the driving force behind my vision, and my future and current work. I was driven to perceive what I see and make from an entirely different perspective. I began to scrutinize my conventional thought-process, and challenge myself:“why is this chair only a chair, and why should it always remain just a chair?” In essence, this stems from its predetermined definition as a chair. The same is true in the fashion world, where everything is pre-defined. As a dresser of the human body, graduating in the field of fashion-design, I must acknowledge that I also create ‘defined pieces’ of clothing - Hence creating wasteful end products. My decision to fight this way of creation urged me to view objects around me in a more “hybrid” way. This new outlook changed my perception of almost everything - Material and shape suddenly became endless in their purposes. This hybrid way of perceiving drove me to experiment. A laundry bag became a dress, a fridge became ‘the dressed’, and a bike became a muse, in this new ‘undefined’ realm I had discovered.
To create something with true soul I decided – as with my prior projects - to work exclusively with recycled materials. Through intimate handwork, I transformed these materials into textiles each with its unique tactility. This ‘transformation’ became an important part of my process of creating and designing. My vision of hybridity led me to exploit the function of household objects, that would eventually inform the language of the collection. Through a phase of experimentation and analysis around the shape of these everyday objects, I realised I was creating my own ‘creatures’ – an amalgamation of the defined and (re)defined. I call them “Totems”. The nature of these Totems is to be in a state of constant development, just like foetuses in the uterus - and so the name of ‘their’ planet was born, Planet Uterus. This imaginary world I created envisions a new way of creation, consumption and perception. On Planet Uterus, there is no distinction between the ‘wear’ and the ‘wearer’, and most of all, there is no such thing as an end product. In this world, material itself is understood as a more “hybrid” medium, where everything can become anything and nothing becomes useless.
The Planet Uterus collection comprises 12 “Totems”, each with their own character and hybridity. I aim to provoke people’s imagination and perception of creation. Throughout the creation process, I had positioned myself as the discoverer of a new planet where a new way of creation had been born, and so the collection visualizes both the “Totems” themselves, and the world they live in. Resolutely, the collection evokes the question: Are we open to a new way of creation, which aims to deliver hybrid outcomes that remain valuable forever?