The presentation of the collection is not approached as a closing step, but as an extension of the design process in which the relationship between clothing and identity is tested again. By making use of both a live community event and studio photography, two different forms of representation are placed alongside each other.
Live Presentation
During the live event, the designs are worn by the people for whom they were made. In this setting, identity emerges as a performance that develops in interaction and in movement. The wearer themselves, their posture, movement and behaviour, plays an equally determining role as the garment. This undermines the assumption that identity can be communicated through clothing alone. Clothing is one component within a larger whole of expression.
The social context introduces an additional layer of interpretation. The audience reads the designs not in isolation but in relation to the environment, other people and social context. This makes the meaning of the clothing unstable and harder to steer than initially anticipated.
Photography as Representation
In contrast to the live event, the photo series offers a controlled environment. Light, composition, styling, posture and movement are used to construct a specific image of identity.
At the same time, this also makes clear that this image is a construction. A tension emerges: the more control is exercised over the image, the further it moves from the complexity of actual identity. The photographic images can offer a glimpse into that identity, but function less as complete representations.
Forms of Presentation
Neither form of presentation proves capable of fully capturing identity. The live setting is context-dependent and a snapshot in time; the photographic setting is constructed and reductive. This underlines a central insight: identity cannot be separated from the way in which it is presented. Every form of presentation brings its own limitations and distortions. This shifts the role of the designer: from someone who ‘makes’ meaning, to someone who creates conditions in which meaning can emerge but can never be fully controlled.
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