Joan Dzyma: QUAINT

My design language is centred around construction, and this has allowed me to explore pattern cutting in a unique way. 'Quaint' draws inspiration from historical military garments, while conceptually exploring themes of identity and gender perceptions. Whilst researching historical military garments as inspiration I was able to implement construction details from various fastenings that introduced an archival touch to the designs. Through the developing stage I used deadstock materials to be as resourceful as possible and I continued to source deadstock wools, linen and chiffon for the final garments. Using leather offcuts, I was able to stitch the remaining details for all the garments. Marlene Dietrich has been the muse for this collection, and I have interpreted her personal style to inspire the soft tailoring for the designs. This has been a personal journey of style exploration and what the relationship of queerness and personal style truly means. I was particularly drawn to Marlene Dietrich’s and Kathrine Hepburn’s style off screen as they both were comfortably dressing as they pleased, effectively encouraging others to do the same then and now. The combination of lightweight chiffons, wools and heavy leathers aims to represent a balance of masculinity and femininity. The bottle green leather aviator jacket from this collection was developed to create a flatter appearing chest for the wearer in response to my research of chest-flattening brassieres from the 1920s and modern chest binders. As a designer, my focus is approaching the garment in 3D and to shape and fit the designs in ways that steer away from conventional features seen in womenswear.