Freya East

My name is Freya East and I am studying Fashion Design.

The initial ideas for my project began by how passionate I am about feminism. I wanted to make bold and powerful statements that portray my views clearly with appreciation to the feminists that inspire me. The start of my project was researching into the feminist movements which have taken place. This lead me to discover the people involved and what they stand for.

Movements such as The Equal Rights Amendment, Black Feminism, Greenham Common and feminism in India particularly influenced my work. It opened my eyes to what feminism means globally and it angered me how much we have to fight for equal rights. Feminism is so important for everyone and that’s why we need it.

Throughout all my work I always strive to break the gender boundary because fashion has no gender and it is always about embracing who you are and the clothes you feel comfortable in. I researched into fashion designers such as Anel Yaos who breaks the gender boundary with fashion. I found inspiration from the bold statements they create. After discovering their work, I experimented with sculptural pieces on the body. I started to work more freely with my designs and expand on the techniques I have used – layering ruffles, pleating and draping on the stand.

Feminist artists such as Judy Chicago and Harmony Hammond also took my eye. My research into these artists really helped me with my project especially Harmony Hammond’s work because she creates beautiful sculptural silhouettes by layering fabrics. This led me to experiment with layering and building up fabric on the body. Additionally, a lot of my colour palette was inspired by Judy Chicago’s work. The vibrant colours she uses influenced me to experiment with different colour combinations for my own designs.

My research into the Greenham Common movement lead me to look into craftivism, from this I created my own knitted and crocheted samples. I was really happy with the result and kept working with this technique. I wanted to show anger within my samples because discrimination shouldn’t exist, this lead me to distress my knitted samples which I found really effective. I worked with this technique further and it became a big part of my project.

A key turning point was researching into craftivism, this sparked my passion for distressed knitting and took my project down a new path and sculpted my final designs and garments. I feel I have found my own voice to speak confidently about feminism and how important it is for everyone.

https://www.instagram.com/freyaaefashion/