Abstraction of the Female Form

“Abstraction of the Female form” is about challenging the viewer to perceive femininity through a lens of abstraction throughout an intuitive and playful form developing method. I aim to create a collection that suggests an alternative by celebrating the individual over the mass produced. Considering clothing as an abstraction of the body I wish to distance my design from the Western idea and tradition of dress by challenging the standard cut.

Born from a Danish mother, and a Japanese father, I’ve grown up in Denmark surrounded by many wonderful women, but none of them were ever Japanese. Over time I grew curious, and I began to wonder. Japanese femininity became this intriguing mystery to me, and I became fascinated by womanhood and female communities in Japan. Family vacations to Japan became this small peephole into what it meant to be a Japanese woman. This question has followed me for some time, and now that I’ve started leaning into it, it frequently influences my work.

Developing this collection I've used one single draping technique which entails the following the three design elements:

- Adding volume and thereby manipulating the perception of the body
- Manipulation of cutlines and thereby challenging the standard cut
- Favoring the asymmetrical expression and thereby break with the expectation

I found that it is a method that automatically suggests asymmetry which is an expression I value as a designer. I appreciate the beauty in asymmetrical shapes as it encourages me to find and restore balance in the unbalanced expression.