week 2__________________________________
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PURPOSE
FIRST CONCEPT DRAFT
When thinking about female empowerement the phrase "A Girl is A gun came to mind". This phrase can mean many different things depeneding on the context. It can refer to the power a woman possesses through her femininty but also claim a woman is dangerous because of it.
I tried to see this phrase in a new context of victim blaming, as when a woman gets blamed for getting hurt by someone else it is almost like she is the danger itself.
This thought process motivated me to create a concept that empowers women and reclaims their femininity and sensuality and celebrates it as something beautiful and powerful instead of something to shame and blame.
The ikigai exercise helped me a lot to identify what the things are that matter to me personally, professionally and what skill I feel confident in.
It also helped me find a direction for my concept and design language as it gave me a broad insight into my interests.
____________________________________week 3
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FEMININTY
current definition
To start off my research about femininity, I started off with looking up the official definition. During that I came across past official definitions and noticed the negative connotations of them.
Framing femininty as something that had to be sacrificed in order for a woman to be successful or something that is expressed through stereotypes like heels and makeup.
past published defintion
definied in art
Gustav Klimt
I looked into the paintings of Gustav Klimt as he portrays women often in blissful moments, enjoying themselves, experiencing desire and pleasure.
His portrayal of female emotions is what I interprate as female sensuality.
I feel very drawn to this type of feeling conveyed in the paintings.
the Virgin the Water Serpents ||
From the articles I have read about his work in the context of the time he was alive, I took that female freedom often gets defined by their sexual liberation and escaping of the societies ideal projected on them.
The suppression of women's desires was at the time and still is in todays society, a leading objective in "demonizing" women's autonomy often symbolized through nudity and the forbidding thereof.
I definitely want to play with that aspect in my collection as it is one of the biggest factors of female empowerment.
Egon Schiele
I found Egon Schieles paintings an inspiring part of my research into the portrayal of femininty within classical art, as he depicted women and men equally in his paintings, naked and in revealing poses.
I find that for his time that was a reflection of how he saw women as human rather than society's expected ideal of them.
Alphonse Mucha
In this article about Alphonse Mucha's art and its feminist aspects I discovered again how in the past purity was such an enforced requirement for women that sexual liberation was seen as a rebellious act.
This strengthened my conclusion of how freedom and self expression is one of the most important aspects to female empowerment.
Aubrey Beardsley
Beardsley was yet another artist I found whos art is considered to empower women through symbolizing their freedom of expressing themselves & their gender.
SENSUALITY
definied in art
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Georgia O’Keeffe - Red Canna
When researching the word sensuality I first looked within my own definition of it. To me it means the unapologetic enjoyment and self expression of one self.
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I associate this painting by Georgia O'Keeffe a lot with it, as the colers of the flowers are so radiant and captivating it feels to me as if the flower is solely blooming for itself and not to impress or please others.
Sandro Botticelli - The Birth of Venus
I wanted to include this painting in my sensuality research as it is one of the most famous paintings visualizing female sensuality.
This painting to me evokes a feeling of purity and yet the protagonist does not appear to be confident to me.
It feels like this painting is depicting sensuality in a very traditional sense, a timid beautiful, hairless woman. I can see the focus on female purity of the time reflected in this painting.
Franz von Stuck - Dancers & Dancing Circle
When I look at Franz von Stuck's paintings depicting dancing women I feel the sense of unapolegetic, wild enjoyment these women seem to be experiencing.
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The dancing symbolizes a form of independent self expression to me which resinates with my definition of sensuality a lot.
SUFFERING
Within my concept I really want to focus on celebrating femininity and liberating female sensuality from the shameful and vulnerable connotations.
Yet I find it important to acknowledge their suffering in order to empower women.
definied in art
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Karl Bryullov - detail of The Last Days of Pompeii
japanese animated movie - "Belladonna of Sadness" 1973
In classical paintings women in distress are often portrayed with tearful eyes and clinging to someone or something. The suffering gets depicted as almost a bonding experience especially between women.
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The expressions on the faces evoke empathy and reverence in me and a feeling of hopelessness.
I watched the movie Belladonna of Sadness as it deals with the topic victim blaming, villainizing female sensuality and power and overall represents the vulnerability and shame a women faces for her sexuality and body.
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I thought this movie found a really fitting way to represent emotions and experiences through artistic symbolism which inspired me a lot for my collages and sketches.
week 4__________________________________
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During the concept class I presented my research that I have done so
far to discover my concept in a deeper way.
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What I have take away from the feedback is that I should discover the female perspective more and especially my own personal one.
I am gonna proceed by looking at more contemporary art and especially art by women and myself about these topics.
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Something valuable Jan has told me was to tie my concept together by combining the research I have done plus the more contemporary research, with the design research I am doing as well.
He gave me the idea to combine it all on my pinboard so it will visually come together and help me tie the concept with the design.
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FEEDBACK FROM CONCEPT CLASS
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH
Unfortunately there is only a trailer to the performance online but reading this magazine about the performance was also a very inspiring part of researching into contemporary art pieces about female emotions and suffering.​
I find the story behind the performance, the forbidding of lamentation in ancient Greece a really interesting topic of how expressing women's suffering is and important part of reclaiming their autonomy.
Performance by Alexis Blake: "rock to jolt [ ] stagger to ash"
I found this magazine in the shop at the Alaia foundation in Paris.
I was intruiged by the cover and title of the magazine and while browsing through it the artist Sara Anstis was a great source of inspiration for me.
The contemporary way in which the women are depicted is very obviously contrasting to the classical paintings: they have body hair and are shown in confident poses, often embracing each other.
What I love about these artworks is the unapoligetical self expression of the women depicted.
BEHAVE desires Magazine, an interview with Sara Anstis
my own art
and concluysion of MY definition of femininity & sensuality
Safehouse - Oil on Canvas 2022
untitled - pastels on paper
Something I've had totally forgotten about during my research so far is analyzing my own art about femininity and sensuality and to shed light on the topic from my perspective.
My most recent oil painting was isnpired by the word "safehouse", when I heard it for the first time i tried to imagine what I'd visualize my safehouse as and ended up painting a body representing it.
This really represents to me how the ownership of my own body is a form of safety to me.
The portrayal of women engaging in BDSM practices was something that fascinated me to draw, because of the power the women held within this vulnerable looking position.
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To me it represents autonomy, courage and confidence of a women expressing herself and her sexuality fully.
____________________________________week 5
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RESEARCH CONCLUSION
concept brainstorm
This research has taught me a lot about how femininity and women's sensuality is seen in society throughout time and which aspects are focused on.
To me empowerment is very much achieved through liberation of society's standard, expectations and requirements for women.
From the way they look to the way they behave and express themselves.
I took away that women's femininity and sensuality is often perceived as vulnerability and something that put them at risk when being expressed.
This brought me to the conclusion that I want to reclaim femininity and sensuality by liberating women from that weight of societies negative and judgemental view on it and portraying it as beauty and power instead of vulnerability and shame.
MOODBOARD
In the moodboard it was really important to me to visualize female sensuality through imagery that I feel show women that are enjoying, expressing themselves and feeling autonomous and powerful.
Since I do want to acknowledge the negative aspects that women experience in society because of their femininity I also included imagery representing the suffering that comes with society's pressure.
To connect these two topics I rounded it up with adding empowerment as I want to empower women by overcoming their suffering through reclaiming their sensuality and femininity.
week 6____________________________________
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In the Concept session after the pitch we discussed where I am at with my concept and which areas need research for more clarity.
Jan gave me interesting insights into which fields I could research like using statements on clothing for collections, the fashion of feminist icons and told me to clarify who my concept is for in particular and how the activism plays a role.
He also advised to write a concept text that talks about what the project is about within 200 words.
CONCEPT TEXT
first draft
Introducing "A Girl is a Gun," a fashion collection dedicated to empowering women by reclaiming and celebrating their femininity while dismantling it as a tool for victim-blaming. My aim is to inspire societal change in the perception of women and their vulnerability, while holding perpetrators accountable. I envision a culture where women can freely and unapologetically express their sensuality, feeling safe and celebrated.
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The collection features garments that play with contrasts: opaqueness and transparency, elegance and sportiness, flowing and stiff fabrics. These symbolize the duality and hypocrisy within victim-blaming, showcasing the versatile and complex ways to empower women.
"A Girl is a Gun" is an activist way to use fashion as a message. Through educating about and calling out societal norms, it provokes thought and challenges judgments. The collection strives to make women feel seen in their struggles for safe self-expression. It an approach to rewrite the narrative, where femininity is not a weakness but a source of strength and empowerment.
RESEARCH
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written statements in fashion
Reflection
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The realizations I made during my research into statement phrases on garments is that they are either ironic and humorous or an "easy" (and boring) way to be activist. The classic writing on a T-shirt to me seems like a lazy and not powerful way to express activism.
I like the boldness and thoughtful combination of statement and garment where the statement is part of the design rather than simply added to the garment.
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feminist icons' fashion style
ANGELA DAVIS
GLORIA STEINEM
YOKO ONO
MADONNA
MARLENE DIETRICH
classical silhouettes combined with bare skin​
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elegant flowing dresses
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bold accessories like big sunglasses, jewlery
trendy 70's fashion
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printed skirts and dresses
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turtlenecks and shirts
feminine/girly dresses​
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erotic lingerie, corsets, nudity
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bold bdsm inspired accessories: chokers, studs, leather
trendy 70's fashion
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blue jeans, turtlenecks, layering​
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silk dresses, flowing feminine
androgynous pant suits, top hat
ruffle blouses, feminine hats
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skirt suits and ballgowns
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week 7____________________________________
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CONCEPT TEXT
updated version
On the first draft of my process book I received the feedback to make it more personal and authentic, to include my own thoughts and experiences
Introducing "A Girl is a Gun," a fashion collection dedicated to empowering women by reclaiming and celebrating their femininity, born from my personal experience as a young woman navigating a society where discussions of assault and harassment are met with skepticism & doubt and a woman’s sensuality are used as a tool to blame the victim.
My aim is to create a collection that inspires women of similar experiences to reclaim their agency and celebrate their femininity and sensuality and like that push for changing the perception of women and their vulnerability. By challenging societal norms, I’m aiming to educate both predators and those who enforce victim-blaming attitudes. Within my collection I want to envision a culture where women can freely and unapologetically express their sensuality, feeling safe and celebrated.
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The collection features garments that play with contrasts like opaqueness and transparency, elegance and sportiness, flowing and stiff fabrics, to showcase the versatile and complex ways to empower women and express femininity.
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"A Girl is a Gun" is an activist way to use fashion as a message. It’s an approach to rewrite the narrative, where femininity is not a weakness but a source of strength and empowerment.
____________________________________week 8
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This week I felt very lost with my moodboard and target group. Luckily Jan gave me very constructive feedback which I was able to create a research plan from which hopefully helps me to create my moodboard.
RESEARCH
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mood based on words from my concept text
SENSUALITY
VULNERABILITY&SUFFERING
MOODBOARD
FEMININTY
EMPOWERMENT
I tried out different verions of text and title on top of the moodboard. I change the font and size around until it fit my concept idea the most.
Reflection: I had again a really hard time in the beginning with the Moodboard. I didn't know which images to use so I had to play around for a long while with rearranging and swapping images. I started to have my line up next to the moodboard so I could see when the two fit together the best, that really helped me to keep track of the initial mood. In the end I am quite satisfied with how it turned out and feel like it does reflect femininty, sensuality, empowerment and vulnerability quite well.
week 9 ____________________________________
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RESEARCH
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the mood and meaning of colors
RED
seduction, rebellion, dominance, danger
PINK
femininity, subversion, playfulness
BLACK
power, sufferring, elegance
WHITE
purity, surrender, divineness
Reflection:
I decided to use images this time to represent the mood of the colors as well. I also added the words that the colors symbolize for me to draw back to the concept and what the colors do for it as well.
____________________________________week 10
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MATERIAL CARD
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Reflection:
To put together my material card I reflected on my line up and toiles. From there I divided them in fabric, hardware and detailing. I like how all the materials are harmonizing, I am only a bit unsure wether its too much on one page.
Midterm Check
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Feedback
Reflection:
For the communication tool I need to do some research into more feminist artists to get a feeling for what would be a better fitting way to communicate my concept and give the mood.
Reflection:
I need to research into styling that will bring my looks closer to the meaning of my concept, making them more intimidating, provocative and contrasting the sweetness of the dresses.
Artist research
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Jenny Holzer
While researching Jenny Holzer I realised that I already know a lot of her art.
The minimalism of the words make them so much stronger and make me feel so touched.
The question that arise when reading this like "What is it that I want?", "Are desires dangerous?"
I like the effect that this kind of poetry has
I love these two examples as I find them to be fitting for the topic of victim blaming. What I like most about them is that they carry so much meaning without being literal about it, this makes the message way stronger and provoke thought.
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I really recognise myself and my messaging within this way of using words
While researching Jenny Holzer I realised that I already know a lot of her art.
The minimalism of the words make them so much stronger and make me feel so touched.
The question that arise when reading this like "What is it that I want?", "Are desires dangerous?"
I like the effect that this kind of poetry has
COMMUNICATION TOOL
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photography
I knew I wanted to use words over my photographs in a magazine but after my research into Jenny Holzer I got really inspired to project the words on the models and clothes right away.
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magazine sketches
For the magazine I want the words and mood of the image to play the biggest role, that's why I only want a few pages that have explanatory text, and keep the layout mainly minimalistic.​
for the posing I want to keep up the contrast of femininity, strength, provocation and therefore want feminine sensual poses as well as masculine arrogant poses.
STYLING RESEARCH​
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belts & chains
silver rings
jewellery
wrapped hands
big statement belts and chains to represent strength, independence, badass-ness
keys as a metaphor representing a self-made weapon
big bold silver rings reminding of brass knuckles and representing self made imrpovised weapons
jewellery with intimidating, armour or weapon reminding elements
wrapped hands with ribbons to give a contrast of fighting attitude and traditional girlyness
shoes
stockings & weapons
different types of shoes to depict versatility of how to express femininity and strength
stockings to give the traditionally seductive touch combined with the dangerous sense symbolised by a knife
PRESENTATION PLAN
WALKING/MOOD VIDEO PLAYING
RED WHITE BLACK
NAKED PINK BOW
TABLE WITH MAGAZINE & FABRIC SWATCHES