The reason for horror being a big part of my identity, and the reason I chose this for my projects theme, comes from various factors. First of all, for my fascination with the unknown. For me personally, horror serves as a gateway to exploring all sorts of mysteries. The genre provides a place to experience fear and adrenaline without real danger, allowing me to engage with my curiosity about the darker aspects of existence. It serves as a source of inspiration for my artistic and creative expression. I find that I'm drawn to the genre for its visual aesthetics and its opportunities for exploring complex themes and narratives, which I'd like to portray through my fashion designs. Moreover, as a person that suffers with anxiety, I've found horror to be very beneficial since it allows me to confront my fears in a controlled environment, providing a release for pent-up anxiety and stress. I'd also like to express these emotions through my designs. Overall, horror has become a central aspect of my personality and social identity, since I'm fascinated by the fashion and media. It's my biggest form of self-expression and belonging within a community of like-minded individuals.

This project will require researching in multiple areas, so I’m going to research current trends, visit places to gather inspiration, research inspiring designers, and discover more about my target audience. I'll be exploring different ideas, experimenting with fabric tests and creating different designs all surrounding my chosen theme.

Requirements and parameters -

The final requirement for this project will be to use all of the planning to produce a wearable garment for me to walk in that will then be showcased at two end of year fashion shows. The first fashion show will be internal and held in CAVC, and the second will be held in the WMC Cardiff. My personal aims for these fashion shows is to be able to communicate the ideas behind my garment and emit the feelings I want to convey successfully only by showcasing it. I could do this by assuring that I keep my final outcome aligned with my themes and inspiration, the music I decide to walk to, and how I decide to walk. I also plan on creating a short (15-20 second) video showcasing my garment and the inspiration behind it.

Design 6 - This design was mainly inspired by my research into Victorian fashion. I included features such as pearls, a corset, a tiered skirt and a parasol. I decide a big skirt would also fit well with the S/S24 silhouette trends which I predicted.

I decided on the colour palette of burgundy, black, and white for this design since they're colours often associated with gothic fashion and horror. I also researched into the trend of deep burgundy so wanted to include this in my design. The hat in this design is round and oversized with pieces of burgundy chiffon draped over it. I took inspiration from my research into Victorian fashion, since it's an accessory that they wore often, and John Galliano, since I liked his technique of draping sheer fabrics over the head. For the top I used the design which I created inspired by Bella Pietro's work. It's also inspired by my research into sheer fabrics, since it has a variety of layered and ruffled sheer fabrics such as lace and chiffon. I wanted to include a corset in this design since it has been relevant to multiple points of my research, such as when I researched current trends, Victorian fashion, Bella Pietro's work and John Galliano's work. I've designed this corset to have sharp tailoring, since this is an idea I had when creating designs inspired by my research into the current trend of corsets. I also wanted to add laced up ribbon features and pearls to the corset since it's a technique that Bella Pietro often uses. I chose to make this corset an underbust corset since they often appeared in Victorian fashion. The sleeves in this design took inspiration from a couple of my initial 18 designs. I combined the ripped lace sleeves from my fourth design, and then the flowy, off the shoulder sleeves from my second design. I wanted the skirt to replicate the top, so I chose to once again use my design inspired by Bella Pietro's work. However, I want this skirt to be much more full and flowy inspired by my research into S/S24 silhouette trends. I also want to include pearls since they often appear in Bella Pietro's work and in Victorian fashion. Finally, I've incorporated my attempt at the LeMAine flesh textile by having it dangling across the legs.