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Laura Heron

University / School

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Game, Piece was inspired by the tension between vulnerability and protection. The collection presentsmanipulated outerwear archetypes that cultivate a wardrobe for a character seeking enclothed armour. Thecollection finds strength in the durability of men’s outerwear pieces, wool fabrications, and workwear signifiers.The London Fog trench coat operates as a blueprint for the body of work, informing the line as well as themotif of epaulettes and double-breasted closures. This archetype is reversed and re-cut to fit a women’s figurewhen worn back to front, serving as a shield from unwanted eyes. The collection aims to capture a parallelbetween the fast and slow, a sense of speed is captured by the connotations of the motorcycle jacket andhigh visibility pinstripe treatments whereas the floral motif represents the slowness of unfurling flowers and painting. The practice of taxidermy and 16th century Dutch still life perform as a secondaryblueprint. Early testing for the collection involved the unfurling of readymade garments before they weremounted to a stay or left to exist and drape independently. This method of collecting, splaying, and mountingspeaks to the idea of hunting clothes as a metaphor for the insatiable appetite with which garments are collected. The implication of wear is frozen when the unfurled sections of clothing are draped and fixed intonew positions, much like how still life pauses perishable subjects in time.