Homespun

As a woman in the 21st century, Homespun explores a personal desire to gain a deeper understanding into the extensive and varied groups of women that helped mould today’s society. The aim was to empower women, through designing and producing garments that emphasise historical tradition, whilst merging this with elements of modern clothing. Personal research has led me to discover smaller social groups of women, such as the Newhaven Fishwives who had their own individual way of dressing, both for practicality and style, that has been lost in the modern day. Traditional Celtic knit and embellishment techniques such as Aran cabling were of particular inspiration due to the individual meanings of each pattern, encoding the knitwear for the observer, and building narratives through the garment. Through combining historical embellishment techniques, I aimed to create new and interesting surface textiles appealing to a high-end 21st century consumer whilst still conserving tradition.