Inspired by 80s icon Leigh Bowery, who used clothes to manipulate and refigure his body. “Masked” is a collection of one-off dresses and accessories. Each look uses my own method for creating 3D fabric. One fabric is created by weaving cord into a net base, which can be manipulated to shape, contour and reform the female body. The second fabric is created by stitching cord together which is then patchworked together and moulded to the body. The silhouette is informed by exaggerating bodily forms such as the shoulders and neck. The textiles technique developed from research into primitive body adornments, experimenting with cord to replicate the colours, patterns and forms in tribal neck rings.
