About Me
Miriam Veil-Powley is a BA Fashion graduate specialising in Womenswear
My graduate collection explores the conceptual tense of the ‘what if?’ while being strongly grounded by my interest in fashion and art history and theory.
I broadened my collection beyond womenswear to include two menswear looks which enhanced my project, lifting my emotional narrative, and enabling me to acquire the further skill of pattern cutting for menswear. The majority of the fabrics I used in my collection were deadstock, most donated by employers during my placement year, as I place high value on sustainable and mindful design practice.
INSPIRATION
The Irrealis Tense
Sparked by Andre Aciman’s 2021 series of essays, I considered the eponymous ‘Irrealis’ tense, the ‘what if?’ My BA graduate collection is an ode to a life almost lived, an exploration of our potential existence had my family stayed in France.
Having been raised surrounded by my mothers’ precious collections and connections to her heritage, I am fascinated by what compels us to reflect, to keep, and to collect. Inspired by images of 19th and 20th century French working women, Irrealis weaves together my precious family objects and history with traditional French silhouettes.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Introduction
Narrative
Photoshoot
Lookbook
Fabrics
Accessories
Look 6 Development
Look 6 Technicals
Look 4 Development
Look 3 Development
Look 3 Technicals
DETAIL
Handmade Accessories
The addition of accessories entirely elevated my project, bringing very literal depictions of objects of memory through my hand-made clay necklaces, rings, and earrings. I wanted to explore the concept of physically holding objects of sentimental value against the body at all times, a way of tangibly carrying memories externally, alongside internally. Accessories make such vital additions to the communication of a concept, and define consequential styling.
"Part yearned for, part remembered, and part imagined, it cannot die and it cannot go away because it never, ever really was" Aciman, Andre, 2021
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
