FINAL MAJOR PROJECT - TOUGH
This is my final major project, where I explore working-class masculinity and homophobic legislation in the UK. Using personal experiences of growing up in a post-industrial area and attending catholic school, this project aims to tear down the barriers of gender and give non-conforming people a place to be free.
“What does the word tough mean to you?”
At the beginning of my Final major project, this was a question I asked in a survey conducted about attitudes towards gender.
For most of my childhood, I was told to “toughen up”, “stop acting like a girl” and “boys don’t cry”. I didn’t really know at the time, but ‘tough’ is a very complex word. It has many meanings and connotations, mostly around masculinity and the need to appear stoic and independent.
Throughout my 4 years at university, I’ve been able to explore my identity in ways I couldn’t whilst growing up gay in a catholic school. So, it only seemed right to delve deeper into my past for my final project. Firstly, by researching into the effects of homophobic legislation in the UK that affected my school life, and ideas of masculinity within the working class.
“Tough” is a gender non-conforming collection aiming to break down the stigma of what it means to be tough and challenge labels and what they mean. This is me ‘baring all’, and telling the world that I am proud of who I am. There have been moments in my life that have taught me how to be resilient, but many people face much worse as a consequence of simply being who they are.
Denim has become a passion of mine, and being able to use it in a way to question what it means to be tough, whilst using sustainable alternatives such as hemp and hand-dyeing techniques made this project all the more personal to me. Using old curtains to represent parts of my identity I used to be ashamed of taught me that there’s a way to make something beautiful from the past. The development of the gender-fluid garments was paramount, as well as finding innovative ways to use traditional denim influences and modernising them. I found experimenting with different pattern cutting methods to develop details gave the collection a fresh and unique perspective on denim, whilst staying authentic.
Crybaby stands to tell you that are tough, no matter what you do or do not identify as. While we continue to fight for change and strive for a better future, remember that being who you are is never wrong. You deserve to be here, to be heard and to be celebrated. There is always a way. Always.
Project Tags
Companies
Graduate Fashion Foundation
- Fashion and Textiles