"THE WASTELAND"

Category: Apparel

The ideas for “The Wasteland” typically stems from notions behind the film Mad Max mixed with ecological destruction that is caused by erosion. The concept signifies a post-apocalyptic, violent, and desolate landscape resulting from societal collapse, environmental disaster all which is being resembled in our world today, exploring how this can be resembled through clothing. Throughout the film it represents a post apocalyptic setting which links closely to erosion as they both have a combination of factors that trigger a breakdown and destruction of something. This brings back the idea of how our environment is trying to breakdown landfill and how it is destructing our world and creating it to become broken. These ideas informed my selection of fabric choices as they show their natural state and are naturally produced in their compositions. Delving into how they are made, some of my fabrics have been sought out local to me in Somerset to reduce the carbon miles it travels, as well as selecting animal derived products from a company that specifies it is waste from the meat industry and holds animal welfare at the forefront, while mixing sustainability and technology for new innovative materials. Looking into them deeper, picking at how they are formed has engrained new techniques into my clothing and has captured that hand element of these items and cannot be easily replicated but are to be collected. These natural elements has allowed me to work into the fabrics to bring out their weaves, which alters their natural appearances. Pronouncing them to become more distressed to shadow the idea of this metaphorical collapse as well as for their visual aesthetic. Through my research I was inspired by the characterisation of the five wives mixed with the hardness and rugged look of Max Rockatansky. The two visually come close within a scene making a harsh contrast due to the proportions of clothing, the style and how they’re presented throughout depicts them to be wearing. These characters are in a need to survive so they are resourceful for what is around them. Which really is where this story starts as it has allowed me develop a ready existing product of dungarees and wear them in a way that wasn’t for their intended use and proposed the initial silhouettes for a jacket. This idea of transformation is resonated into this concept and applies this scavenger sense to the collection, as it suggests these pieces to be sought out from discarded remnants. I tackle the idea of meeting textile-focused design and craftsmanship, all while exploring how technical construction allows me to create detail- from the use of naturally dyed wool weaved through muslin, cutting strips of leather that is hand weaved through a hessian grid to create line work, the use of topstitching and the formulation of different seam lines. These have been carefully crafted to resemble the different lines/ thickness that is caused when the erosion process begins. Marking its beauty for its randomness and unique appeal, even though it is being destroyed allows me to find the beauty within the ever-changing. These clothes are a metaphor for the ever changing and a new purpose- ‘Adaptation’ is what we have to do to be fully immersed into “The Wasteland”.

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