Diversity Apocalypse

Hi, I am Ellie Wright I am 21 years old graduating summer 2024 with a BA in Fashion Design at the University of Salford, specialising in womenswear. During my three years of studying, I have become an innovative and adaptable individual developing both my design and development process and technical construction skills. This creative development has allowed me to become a confident designer as am able to fully realise my most technically challenging designs in the flesh through precise pattern cutting and garment construction knowledge. “Diversity Apocalypse” is inspired by the 90’s feminist-Punk movement “Riot Grrl” the collection considers what would “Riot Grrl” look like today? It imagines a post-apocalyptic world in which the world as we know it is wiped away and “Riot Grrl” takes over implementing its more liberating and rebellious views on gender and tradition or therefore its lack of. Central to the concept is the idea that femininity is a spectrum not a box, the collection aims to highlight the diversity within feminine identity and celebrate this. A joyful inclusive collection with the angsty energy of “Riot grrl” that starts conversation around gender and dress by demanding to be heard. Therefore, the garments in the collection represent the clash of the delicate and the bold, the old and the new…featuring elements of traditional tailoring within blazers, nods to classical garments such as a dinner jacket but blown to exaggerated proportion and layers of sheer tulles and gathers. Fabric selection is key to the collection I enjoy working with heavily textured fabrics so many surface embellished fabrics were used alongside textile techniques such as hand gathering. Working with such delicate and technically challenging fabrics presented its own multitude of issues particularly in construction and finish, however my knowledge of professional finishing and handling of delicate fabrics has grown vastly because of this and improved my sewing ability.