Meet Plymouth College of Art graduate Jessica Mae, whose struggle with Endometriosis inspired her final year project. It led to an exploration of womanhood, motherhood and societal pressures that women encounter. Read on to learn more about Jessica’s project and her plans for life after graduation.
1. What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project?
From my own experience with a disease known as Endometriosis, I decided to base my whole final project around this. I felt very passionate about spreading awareness for the disease and how it has impacted my daily life and the pressures that came along with it. From this point my research led me to look into the issues within society surrounding female rights and societal expectations. Key terms such as motherhood, Italian Renaissance paintings, feminism and feeling the pressure to have children have been thoroughly explored and used as inspiration within the collection.
2. What form will it take?
My final collection will consist of 4 outfits complete with accessories, such as berets, bags and sunglasses. I am a big fan of styling so I wanted each outfit to represent a story and my theme in a strong way. I have used a bright colour palette along with clashing patterns and prints. I wanted each fabric choice to fully represent my research and development, I used fur to represent fight and survival, knit to show how the disease grows within the body and finished off with tailoring for that BOSS effect.
3. How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?
My initial idea was just to focus on the disease itself and create awareness for Endometriosis UK. The idea was to create a soft collection with features of lingerie using light sheer fabrics, but as my research developed and I further sampled I realised that I wanted to create a strong impact that screams “BOSS!”
4. What is the message behind your project that you want people to take away?
I wanted my collection and project to show that as women we don’t have to fulfil the path that society tries to lay out for us. Just because we choose not to get married, have children or ‘settle down’ doesn’t make us any less of a woman or a failure. It also doesn’t mean we should be questioned if we choose to take a different path - i.e putting your career first.
5. What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I love the fashion industry as a whole, clothing has always been such a confidence boost for me and something I’ve relied heavily on when expressing myself. While writing my dissertation I explored feminism within fashion and how the topic has been transformed into a money making trend within some brands.
This is something which I feel very passionate about changing, I’d love to create a brand with a similar theme to my final collection which could ultimately support endometriosis charities and other female rights charities. Developing my own brand which impacts a positive change has always been a dream of mine.
6. What is your plan once you finish your BA?
When I finish my BA I want to continue developing my brand in a more commercial way, I do feel that my collection could be commercialised and ultimately sold. The idea of developing my own website and brand which empowers all women is something I’ve always wanted to achieve. I would also like to work within the industry to gain more experience while working on my own brand.
But as well as this, my Instagram has really taken off in the past year and I’ve made sure to upload my work as much as possible. I believe that social media is a gateway to opportunity’s which needs taking advantage of so whatever my plans may be, I will make sure to keep creative within my personal time and keep uploading my work.