Everyone is living a life just as complex as your own. We all go through periods of highs and lows, facing our struggles in different ways. In the UK, 1 in 4 will experience mental health problems in a year. Although shared by many, these problems are unique to the person suffering. This can make it hard for others to understand their feelings, alienating them. It can seem like no matter how hard they try; they still don't fit in - trapped on the outside.
SONDER aims to visualise how mental illness can consume a person's life and portray the defensive layers they create to try to get by. To do this, four common phobias - blood, clusters of holes, spiders and body image - will represent mental illness, as these are something people fear but others cannot understand why. Each phobia will be thoroughly explored through sketch-booking, finding shapes, colours, textures and patterns, which will then be merged with the human body. Doing this will convey how a feeling has consumed a person's life.
The final collection will be for the luxury, high-end market, targeting 20-32-year-old women, who are very experimental and ahead of trends. The Autumn Winter 23/24 collection will comprise eight outfits, with a range of varying garments, silhouettes and textures.
Look 1
This first look in the collection is very layered, in the same way, our emotions are deeper than the surface level. The
cutout detail in the top conveys the feeling of being exposed - with the jumper on top symbolising emotions that have consumed a person's life. The skirt, hood and legwarmers aim to hide the wearer, creating a barrier to what's beneath, just as someone suffering from a mental illness might.
look 2
Look two is comprised of a floor-length, hand-knit dress and red velvet jacket. The dress is long and tight - covering the wearer's whole body, to symbolise emotions suffocating a person. The jacket sleeves are dramatically oversized, to show how someone struggling might try to overcompensate in order to fit in, but deep down they still feel afraid and exposed - as shown with the dress cutouts.
look 3
This look is completely crochet, resulting in an asymmetrical dress and matching gloves. The dress is both busy and exposing, with layers of crochet conveying a mind full of thought and bare sections expressing vulnerability. The asymmetrical hem creates a look that is falling apart, much like how someone suffering from mental illness may feel.
look 4
This outfit is made up if a hand-knit jumper and matching leggings, with a puffer bodysuit and legwarmers layered on top. These layers again represent a person building a defensive barrier to hide their true emotions beneath. The shape of the bodysuit also distorts the wearer's figure, visualising how people can have a warped perspective of themselves.
look 5
The final look features a matching tight crop top and pants, with a crochet dress over the top, visualising how someone could be caged in by their emotions but still feel bare and exposed. The body warmer over the top is trying to conceal where the wearer is exposed, in a similar way to someone with mental health problems might.
