Acts of Masculinity

Graduate designer Emma Blythe finds balance in worlds past and present
16 February 2023
Photographer Bea Puppo Amo
Stylist Steven Huang.

Titled Fashioning Acts of Masculinity: Progression, the latest collection by Royal College of Art graduate Emma Blythe is the second instalment of an ongoing research project. Having begun with Fashioning Acts of Masculinity – a menswear offering exploring the role fashion plays within the discourse of harmful male behaviour – Progression is repurposing those same menswear garments as womenswear.

Starting the second collection started where the first ended, traditional menswear tropes are unpicked and imbued them with a softer touch, shifting perspective and meaning. Working with upcycled garments found on eBay and in charity shops, each piece’s heritage is preserved as Blythe honours previous owners while simultaneously breathing new life into them. “I imagined a woman within this new future narrative who is disentangled from the painful history that the garments surrounding her used to represent,” says Blythe, taking us through the codes behind her expressive body of work.

What’s the story behind the collection and how does it relate to your previous collection?
Emma Blythe: Fashioning Acts of Masculinity: Progression is the second instalment of an ongoing research project. The previous collection was all menswear, focusing on identifying and remedying harmful western male behaviour. I used vintage and antique items connecting to the traditional masculine wardrobe to find new uses and ways to relate to them in order to hopefully distance the wearer and ourselves as viewers, away from their harmful history to open up new lines of discussion.

This next collection builds upon that by shifting into womenswear. Using the same types of materials and working in the same way, I imagined what could be if this body of work could be successful in detaching objects from their current meanings. I imagined a woman within this new future narrative who is disentangled from the painful history the garments surrounding her used to represent.

How did that process of repurposing the garments work? Where did you begin with each piece?
EB: A lot of eBay scrolling and charity shop bin-diving. I try to start out with an idea of what types of garments or materials I’m looking for that relate to what I am trying to communicate, but I’m very much at the mercy of what happens to be available at the time I begin. Once I have something I think could work, I’ll take it back to the studio and play around with it, wear it, engage with it and see how it makes me feel. I also make sure to identify and preserve any key details of each piece. I always try to pay homage to what the original garment once was in order to reference its history, and simply alter it enough to suggest a different path. It would appear I design alone but it’s not really the case, the design process is a back-and-forth discussion between myself and the pieces I collect to honour the many hands it passed through before finding mine.

“The materials are the story, the history and imperfections of the items I’m able to work with add a layer of sensitivity I would never be able to design…”

Tell us about the importance of sustainability in your practice and how this influences your output…
EB: I began upcycling as a form of visual communication. While trying to find ways fashion can rebuild gender barriers, I found upcycling was a way in which I could use recognisable objects to suggest radically new meanings from those objects and the people wearing them.

For Progression, the collection is not only made from fully upcycled materials but about half of it uses the same garments from the previous menswear collection, showing we don’t have to always make more to say something new and continue to progress forward. In terms of design, this has definitely taught me to be less rigid in regards to what I make. Having to work only with what I have and what already exists allows me to follow a more fluid path in order to finally reach an outcome. These pieces are all things we chose to have surrounding us, and chose to bring into existence at some point in time. My job is to allow these items to remain by finding them new value and a more hopeful path.

How do the materials add to the story?
EB: To be honest before a collection or garment is made I have very little idea of what it will look like. The materials are the story, the history and imperfections of the items I’m able to work with add a layer of sensitivity I would never be able to design or pattern draft into them otherwise.

“…before a collection or garment is made I have very little idea of what it will look like.”

“The design process is a back-and-forth discussion between myself and the pieces I collect to honour the many hands it passed through before finding mine.”

Where do you see your work progressing?
EB: I am currently working on the next instalment of this same body of work. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have many other creative minds willing to support me and help build upon my vision. I hope to expand the community of artists and makers I am beginning to build while still remaining close to what drives me – slow, sustainable, activist-based make and design. My work so far has been focused more on the deconstruction of things as they are, I now aspire to focus more on reconstruction and healing for both myself and potential future realities.

GALLERY

Follow Emma Blythe on Instagram.

Photographer: Bea Puppo Amo 
Styling: Steven Huang 
Model: Maya Pan 
Hair: Kei Takano using ghd 
Makeup: Chie Fujimoto 
Styling Assistant: Sophie Thomalla 


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