THE APPROPRIATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY
This collection, entitled “The Appropriation of the Virgin Mary” explores the ideas of sacredness, veneration, and sexuality by challenging the notion of what is pure and holy. The collection pulls heavily from Christian and Catholic imagery in order to evoke a regalness that is rooted in years of history. The most successful pieces, like looks one and two, deconstruct the stereotypical depiction of the Virgin Mary and attempts to modernize it and incorporate the effects of social media on religion. Modern elements like the sweatshirt are included to juxtapose the otherwise ornate evening collection. I focused a lot on separates, but in an eveningwear context in order to blur the lines between stereotypical streetwear and couture. The body cast corsets were inspired by both the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. They represent this false sense of sexuality and fertility that is placed upon the model, similar to how Mary Magdalene’s sexual persona was placed upon her in popular culture. The collection itself is actually pretty demure with only the collarbone being exposed at times. This for me was important because modesty is very important in religions around the world.
Final Rederings:
Process:
Revisions After Class Presentation:
After my presentation, I felt that my ideas were not fully communicated in my designs so I wanted to keep working on different iterations to try and incorporate more deconstructed streetwear in my designs. My main focus was developing a t-shirt that captured both sides of my arguement. I am still not fully satisfied with my designs and feel like I need to first develop mock-ups and drapes in order to figure out what I want to achieve.
In-class Presentation:
Print Design:
Yard – print repeat
Single tile
Pattern Development:
Click Here to see the process of the gold textile
Click here to see the process of the paper herringbone textile
