A Glimpse Within:

“My collection ‘Femme’ was inspired by the relationship I have with my body, sexuality and expression”

“Throughout my adolescence, my association with Alternative subcultures evoked both intense fear and joy, heightened by complex anxieties surrounding societal perceptions. At present, with my newfound confidence, and lesbian identity, my collection Femme shares a visual narrative that incorporates recognizable fetishist styling, while exploring themes of empowerment in sexuality and my expression of femininity. Femme is reclaiming queerness, and gothic identity—a defiance against hateful fetishisation.

Having been fetishised and objectified throughout my life for being a lesbian and for my expression as a Goth, my collection built itself around my body perceptions and pieces of myself I carry pride in. I sculpted silhouettes and stitched dolls, working with figure and proportion, before enlarging my patterns and constructing leather pieces in the form of a ‘second skin’. The focus of my collections structure being the exaggerated bust silhouettes and the waistbands following the curve of the pelvis.”

— @rebemortuus
_ Emily R. Hickey