C O L L E C T I O N   3    E R O D E 

OUR THIRD COLLECTION EVOKES A PERSONAL REFLECTION ON THE VARIATIONS OF SELF THROUGH TIME. DEVELOPING THE 'POST HUMAN’ CONCEPT FURTHER, THIS COLLECTION CONTINUES THE EXPLORATION OF CLOTHING MADE FOR SCULPTURE INSTEAD OF THE HUMAN FORM. REMOVING THE BODY AS A CATALYST FOR THE DESIGN, AND LEANING INTO THE FOCUS OF RELATING CLOTHING TO SCULPTURE. 

PREVIOUSLY, WE HAD FOCUSED ON COVERING THE WEARER IN ARMOR, PROTECTING THEM IN TIMES OF TRANSFORMATION. IN CONTRAST, THIS COLLECTION EXPLORES THE IDEA OF DISPLAYING BOTH SIDES OF THE GARMENTS THROUGH TRANSPARENCY; CREATING A HAZE OVER THE SELF IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. SPLITTING AND PROJECTING VERSIONS OF THE SELF ACROSS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. CREATING FRACTURES IN REALITY WHERE THE TRUE SELF NO LONGER EXISTS, BUT ALSO EXISTS AT EACH POINT IN TIME SIMULTANEOUSLY. 

THE CONCEPT OF EROSION, A NATURAL EARTH PROCESS OF WATER GRADUALLY WEARING AWAY AND CHANGING ROCK FORMATIONS AND LAND THROUGH TIME, CONNECTS TO THIS COLLECTION’S CONCEPTS OF TIME, ALTERING STATES OF APPEARANCE AND VERSIONS OF SELF. WHO WE ARE IS EVER CHANGING AS WE MOVE THROUGH TIME. THE ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS THAT HAPPEN IN OUR LIVES FLOW OVER US LIKE THAT OF WATER OVER LAND, INFORMING NEW SHAPES AND PATTERNS, POLISHING STONES, IN THIS CONTINUAL PROCESS OF REDEFINITION OF SELF. 

EXPANDING ON THE THEME OF INTIMACY BETWEEN THE WEARER AND THE GARMENTS, WE CREATED PIECES THAT CONTAIN SUBTLE ATTRIBUTES ONLY THE WEARER KNOWS ABOUT, WHILE ALSO INTEGRATING SHEER GARMENTS THAT REVEAL THE INTERIOR WORK OF THE PIECES, EXPOSING THE INSIDE OF THE GARMENT TO THE WORLD.

THIS SEASON WE CREATED A SERIES OF ‘RHIZOME’ GARMENTS THAT ARE CONSTRUCTED ON A CELLULAR LEVEL. EACH SHAPE IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE LAST, EACH OF THE INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS ARE CONSTRUCTED TOGETHER TO MAKE A WHOLE. WE PUSHED THIS PROCESS A STEP FURTHER, RESULTING IN THE REVERSE EXO RHIZOME JACKET, A ZERO WASTE COUNTERPART PIECE PATTERNED FROM THE NEGATIVE SPACE CUT OUTS OF THE RHIZOME PUFFER CELLULAR SHAPES. NON-HUMAN SCULPTURES INFORMED THE PATTERN AND DESIGNS FOR THE POST HUMAN COAT, CREATING THE EXTREME ORGANIC SEAMED SHOULDERS. WE CREATED REVERSIBLE HAIR-ON-HIDE LEATHER BAGS PATTERNED FROM CERAMIC VASES, WHICH ARE THEN WET FORMED OVER THEM TO HOLD THEIR SHAPE. THE BAG IS THEN HAND PAINTED BLACK ON THE SUEDE SIDE AND FINISHED WITH BEESWAX TO CREATE AN IRREGULAR TEXTURE. OTHER GARMENTS FEEL AS IF TO EXPOSE THE WEARER FROM WITHIN THE BODY, SUCH AS THE VENA GLOVE TOPS, WITH SEAMWORK INSPIRED BY VEINS IN THE BODY, ENCASING THE WEARER IN A VEIL OF SILK ORGANZA. THROUGHOUT THIS COLLECTION WE EXPERIMENTED WITH DEPTH IN TEXTURES, UTILIZING BRUSHED WAX FINISHES ON THE GARMENTS. WE CREATED THE OXIDIZED IRON NATURAL DYE WHICH UTILIZES AN ORGANIC PROCESS OF SPRINKLING TEA AND IRON ON THE FABRIC, AND FINISHES THE GARMENT BY SUBMERGING THE WORK IN WATER TO SOLIDIFY THE IMPRESSIONS OF A VARIETY OF TONES AND PATTERNS. THIS COLLECTION FOCUSES ON THE PASSAGE OF TIME THROUGH DETAILS WHICH INTENTIONALLY AGE, PIECES THAT ARE TRANSFORMATIVE IN NATURE, AND NONHUMAN CONFORMING GARMENTS THAT ARE INTENDED FOR ANYONE AND NO ONE. 

TO BE EXPERIENCED BOTH WITHIN AND WITHOUT SIMULTANEOUSLY, CONNECTING THE WEARER TO ALL VARIATIONS OF IDENTITY, AND WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A SENSE OF SELF. 

THE ERODE COLLECTION CHALLENGES THE WEARER AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH CLOTHING. IN THE WORLD OF FASHION TODAY, THERE IS A HEAVY FOCUS ON NOSTALGIA AND LABELS, NEITHER OFFERING ANYTHING NEW, FOSTERING A WORLD WITH NO FUTURE.  BY REJECTING THE IDEA OF CLOTHING HAVING A SINGLE IDENTITY, MAKING GARMENTS THAT ARE NOT INTENDED FOR PEOPLE AND CANNOT BE LABELED, WE INSTEAD CREATE GARMENTS THAT SHIFT AND CHANGE TO THE WAY THE WEARER IS FEELING. WE HOPE THE PIECES IN THE ERODE COLLECTION CREATE  A MORE GENUINE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE WEARER AND THE OBJECTS THAT INFORMED THESE DESIGNS.