The Mother and the Meaning is a womenswear and childrenswear collection based on my personal experience of motherhood and the struggle with feelings of guilt and grief. I also wanted to address sustainable practice in fashion from start to finish in this project, focusing on the textile elements. I was inspired by memory quilts, simple living and sentimentality. The silhouettes are simple, allowing for the textiles to shine through, with elements of attachment and detachment which mirror the contradicting feelings of wanting to spend every minute of everyday next to my children, yet desperately wanting freedom from the responsibility of being a parent.
By upcycling old bedding, clothes and curtains my options were somewhat limited by the lack of meterage of fabric. But this led to the exploration of patchworking which is a key feature of this collection. I am passionate about sustainable fashion and reducing waste, so I felt upcycling was the most accessible way to do this. There is also a sense of rebellion against the current fashion system which champions newness, fuelled by capitalist frameworks. Instead, I want to address the negative impact of this system and push people to form meaningful connections with clothes that have been made and transformed from textiles which would have otherwise ended up in a textile graveyard on the opposite side of the globe.
There is no future if we can’t learn from our past mistakes.