A poignant moment of inspiration came to me early in this studio after reading Anne Hollander’s ‘Sex and Suits’. Hollander writes about the history of tailoring and its ability to idealize, morph and emphasize various elements of the natural male and female form. Alas, whilst getting caught up in notions of “what is the perfect form?”, I had the thought: what was to be done when the body was truly ‘imperfect’? Hence began my research into the siamese twins and the inaccurately labeled ‘freaks’ of yesteryear. Delighted to come across much information and imagery on the subject, I was fascinated to examine just how these so called ‘imperfect’ figures were so wonderfully catered for with regard to their clothing.
As a result of rummaging through old images and archives on the subject, I noticed a common theme developing among the pairs of siamese twins and leg-less men. That is, resulting from the societal attitudes of the time, these people were often treated as a novelty and frequently featured as part of a circus side show. Indeed there is a rather horrid element to this whole concept, yet admittedly it did serve to create an exciting tension when viewing the colourful elaborate posters advertising their so called ‘freak shows’.
Upon considering all the aforementioned factors and inspirations, I have decided to create my designs based upon the so called ‘freaks’ of yesteryear. Taking direct inspiration from their unique silhouettes and figures, I have translated this information into my jacket designs. These forms now serve as the jacket base to which I intend to pepper with the same kitsch charm and nostalgic colouring of the vintage circus posters, and hopefully an equal amount of enchantment evident in those “freaks” who have already inspired me so much!
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