Growing up with my dual heritage, Chinese and English, at times feeling exclusion, lost and confused and many times embarrassed but sometimes proud, the ambition of this project is a projection of me and my feeling towards this estranged part of my life that is so segregated from me. Researching into culture from Hong Kong, my mother’s home country, through everyday wear, accessories and architecture to use as focal points in my design work. This consisted of me rummaging through old relics of my mother’s belongings, finding traditional baby carriers and hats and her art she created as a student in London when she first came over as an immigrant when she was nine years old. However, the most important research for my design work was conversating with my mother to understand what it meant to her to be Chinese, as I never felt I was. Through my research into traditional garment design in Hong Kong I found an abundance of handmade textile applications that was an integral part of design, and hours of hard labour. I use bamboo sticks to create a structure around the body, inspired by architectural building manufacturing in Hong Kong that they use instead of scaffolding. Further looking into more traditional identity, I found items such as baby carriers with a simple shapes, as well as aprons and hats of the same simple design made for usefulness. A traditional Hakka (my mother’s village) outfit consisted of a plain Sam (top) and Fu (trousers), which is consistently prevalent in my designs. I use fabrics of Chinese brocade with different colours and patterns to replicate the detailed textiles in my references as well as Sand washed Silk and Silk Taffeta of bright blues and burnt orange to compliment the array of colourful textiles.