Meg Naysmith

COLLECTION NARRATIVE

Twenty-five percent : S/S 2021 Womenswear Collection

Megan Naysmith

 

1 in 4 people in the UK today have, or will, suffer from mental health issues at some point in their life.

 

I began this project in summer 2020, during the height of lockdown.

 

The global Coronavirus pandemic will more than likely be one of the biggest events to happen during our lifetime. It will go down in history, alongside the Wars, as having had catastrophic effects on the entire world, the economy and people’s lives. The recent circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns have had a massive impact on almost all aspects of life as we knew it, including many, many people’s mental wellbeing.

 

Twenty-five percent looks at the comparisons between the World wars and the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected us all mentally.

 

Many soldiers and military veterans experience PTSD which can have a lifelong effect on their health. Many civilians also battle with these ‘invisible’ illnesses from anxiety and depression to OCD or Loneliness. This can be a huge weight on anyone’s shoulders and can make day to day life a struggle. Carrying around something like this can be very hard to deal with but luckily, today, it is something that is being more and more widely spoken about, and the more we can openly speak about our feelings the easier it is to start to feel better and seek the help we may need.

 

When we were given the uniform brief I instantly was drawn to the military theme as this has always been something I’ve been interested in. my Great granda Naysmith left his belongings form his time in the Army during WW2 to my dad. This was my initial starting point for my collection. I looked at the places he went, the letters he kept, his books, photos, medals and personal equipment.

 

His Gas mask was the first point at which I thought about creating a dialogue between the war and the pandemic. masks play(ed) a massive part in both, for different yet very similar reasons – to save lives. I began to look closer at the gas mask and satchel. Their various components and fastenings provided some interesting shapes from which I started to think about a silhouette for a garment. I tried it on thinking about how claustrophobic it felt and how terrifying it must have been wearing It for real. a young man, not even as old as I am now, sent off to fight for his and those he’d left at home’s lives… that is almost incomprehensible. No wonder so many young soldiers returned scarred for life by the things they’d seen or experienced.

 

Having to carry this with them for the rest of their lives would be difficult for most to come to terms with. I wanted to capture this sense of having ‘baggage’ and a ‘weight on your shoulders’ in my garment. So, I experimented with some very large exaggerated silhouettes which swallowed up the wearer, just like the war or mental health could.

 

From here I began to look at some more military style uniforms and designers who have been inspired by this such as Christopher Raeburn. Raeburn’s ‘Raefound’ collection is created from upcycling disused military Garments which caught my attention as it not only links with my theme but is also ethical. I am a big believer in using what we have, buying second-hand and upcycling. I also looked at Lucy Mcrae’s Work ‘post- Apocalyptic Sherpas’ where she created a survival kit for the future. She calls herself a body architect and created a suit that involves carrying her whole life on her back. Which is fitting with soldiers having to carry all of their belongings and equipment with them as well as the concept behind my design.

 

The imagery I gathered at this point then led on to me thinking about how I could really portray what I wanted to say in my garment. I was inspired by the layers and ruffles used by Molly Goddard in her work. I have always been drawn to more feminine styles and having danced since I was small the way she uses tulle really caught my eye. I began to use this idea of layering light weight almost see-through fabrics to add volume and weight to my garment by building up these thin layers to capture this idea of carrying something no one else can necessarily see until it builds up so much that you can’t hide it any more.

 

As I began to research which fabrics to use I initially thought I would stick with tulle and dress net, but after making some samples, although I liked the effect it created, I decided to use a combination of lightweight materials. These would allow me to more easily manufacture the look I wanted as I could add more structure in areas that needed it and have softer sections mixed through to create the effect I wanted. Designing through making and collaging my ideas together definitely allowed me to explore my options and come to the best conclusions within my design.