MAIDEN, MOTHER, CRONE

Based in the wilds in West Penwith in Cornwall my work explores the symbiotic relationship of fashion design with the natural world. We are bleeding at the roots. Western Society is gravely cut off from the natural world. We, as humans, once lived in a perpetual, immediate connection with the cycles and seasons, interacting as one with nature as opposed to against it. Inspired by this past, this is a collection that aims to reroot its wearers in the earth, yet embracing the ebb and flow of cyclical change. It encourages a celebration of impermanence and growth. Through utilising imbedded references and considered design, garments reflect the rhythmic nature of life- a collection designed for use throughout the circular year. Inspired by the lore of the triple goddess and the cyclical nature of women. Garments envelop the wearers in sculptural organic form- depicting the growth cycle of the flower: from bud to bloom to seedhead and into gradual decay. The Maiden is the beginning of new life and growth; like a flower bud on the cusp of opening, petals protected beneath its sheath. The Mother is fertility; she is fullness in summer and fullness in life- a flower in full bloom. The Crone symbolises ending, but also transformation and rebirth. Like the flower that becomes the seedhead-life to death to life once more. The combination of structural, hardened wool overtops light cotton and linen cloth, gathered and cut to encourage structures that cocoon and sheath the wearer, blurring human form with wearable plant-inspired structure. There is a key focus on layering, exploring the use of fabric manipulation to encapsulate the subtlety of change yet portray thread of continuity in organic growth.  We must feel nature with our own hands. We must establish ourselves within its framework and create emotional reconnection. Only then will we truly want to save and protect it. Only then will we realise, we are it.  I am rooted, but I flow.