Meet Chiara Corso, a fashion design graduate from Falmouth University. During lockdown, Chiara’s focus turned to exploring surrealism, consciousness and subconsciousness which became the basis of her womenswear collection. Experimenting with creative and unique shapes, tailoring and prints, her collection ‘Singularities’ is a physical expression of complex emotions that arose during the pandemic.
“Sometimes we are so caught up in every day life that we don't actually know how we feel inside or how to deal with our emotions,” she says. “So instead of repressing these feelings I want to face them and give life to them in a creative way.” Read on to discover more!
What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?
The most valuable thing that I've learnt at university is resilience and believe in myself. the first years of university, I was used to look at other people's work and compare myself to them always thinking I wasn't good enough, I wasn't creative enough. I think I can say that I was less involved in it and more impress with it, so my only concern was the outcome. I made so many mistakes I though I was stupid, but I didn't consider the fact that I was learning. So resilience taught me that we are all creative in our own special way not matter how many mistakes we make. Therefore now I'm focusing on the joy of the doing and it's showing its results
What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project?
This project came to me during lockdown, I felt lonely, miles away from home and I couldn't even go home because my on country (Italy) wouldn't have let me in. I lived on a boat (and I still do) so it was me and myself in this tiny space. I didn't exactly know what was going on outside around the world and inside myself in my own world. My dreams were very unusual, I felt like I lost touch with myself at some point and I was trapped on my boat with nowhere to go and only myself to listen to, the same voice over and over again. So that is when I decided to focus on Surrealism, consciousness and subconsciousness. I looked at painters and designers and tried to immerse myself in their world to understand what surrealism meant for them.
What form will your final project take?
My garments are taking very creative shapes in a way surrealistic shapes and I'm focusing on the side of couture and tailoring, but I want my garments to express desired and show paradox of entrances and exits. For the pre-collection, which I named "Singularities", I focused on the idea of colours and patterns to see how unusual colours and shapes reacted together. I have also created my own digital print, which is inspired by the work of Maurits Escher. For this print I've played with different prospectives, geometric shapes and repeated patterns. So the final result in the print has an illusion effect.
That's why I chose Singularities as a name for my pre-collection, because its shapes and colours are singular in their own ways. For the final collection, which will be probably called "Radical Beauty" I'm using gloves a lot because the meaning behind the gloves is the sense of touch. Now that everything is digital we're losing that sensation, the touch, the feeling and emotion of touching a dress, a particular fabric, but even hug people or shake hands. This time my garments are taking very unusual shapes, because the idea of being radical is to transform the nature of something into something different. So this is way I'm turning jackets and dress into something different.
What materials have you used and how did you source them?
I am using couture fabrics and beautiful tweeds. I also wanna keep this project sustainable for what I can, so all of my fabrics are sourced in England and some are donated by designers based in England. For the pre-collection Singularities, I have used a beautiful houndstooth tweed for the jacket and a couture golden fabric donated by Victoria Beckham for the dress. For the final collection I'm not exactly sure yet, but it will probably tweed again, sequins and satin.
How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?
This project has evolved a lot from my original plan. Every time I sketch something I then start recreating the shape that I've drawn on the mannequin and that's when my ideas take a different path. I get excited about playing with fabrics so my original design turn into something different. Therefore when I get an idea of what is happen on the mannequin, I use photoshop to recreate the rest of the outfit to have a raw understanding of what it could look like. Working in this way taught me to solve my problems in a better way, especially now that the university is shut and we have less access to the technicians advices, but also I understood that by having a visual idea drawn on paper I can start playing and recreate that shape on the mannequin and there I have infinite access to experiments.
What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?
The message behind my project is Surrealism, it's all based on subconsciousness and consciousness. We are all living in unusual times, a big part of Australia was on fire for a while, Covid 19 hit the world, Kobe Bryant was killed and started a revolution. So in my and other people's head it's all like: What's going on?! Due to that I have decided to be meaningful, to listen to those feelings I was experiencing, give shapes to them.
Sometimes we are so caught up in every day life that we don't actually know how we feel inside or how to deal with our emotions. So instead of repressing these feelings I want to face them and give life to them in a creative way. I want people to understand how to be kind to themselves and listen to their own emotions instead of putting them aside. We all need to be our own friend sometimes and we need to be creative especially during complicated times.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I would definitely slow down fashion and let people understand in the industry to be meaningful rather then wasteful. Fashion for me is not just pretty clothes, but it's art. It's an idea that takes birth and step by step turns into a wonderful work of art, an artwork that people can wear. Instead of burning out the creative mind we should understand the pretty things require time and energy. Unfortunately, the narcissistic side of fashion, allows the creative energy and ideas to get consumed quickly, rather than recognising the importance of time and the possibilities to evolve into something over time. But I think this is slowing changing because people are waking up now.
What is your plan once you finish your BA?
It's difficult to make an actual plan because of this uncertain time. However, I'm aiming to move to London and apply for internships, creative jobs, but I would also love to learn how to tailor properly at Savile Row.