PROJECT STATEMENT
For my ‘When Two Worlds Collide’ project I chose the time period 1960-1979 and the historic figure Mary Harris Jones,or Mother Jones.
I chose 1960-79 because it’s a period known for change. The ‘Swinging Sixties’ saw the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s rights movement and more. The reason behind why I chose Mother Jones is because her story is amazing. She was a union organiser and activist who emigrated from Cork to the USA after the famine. Despite the countless hardships Mother Jones experienced throughout her lifetime, she dedicated her life to bettering the working conditions of child-labourers and miners across the US.
These two ‘Worlds’ have a passion and energy in common that I wanted to bring in to my clothing line. I took text from the protests that Mother Jones led and from protest imagery from the sixties and combined them to create a protest themed Line-Up.
Power was a word from these protests that resonated with me and I was inspired by an episode of ‘Next in Fashion’ to create Power suits for my collection. Blazers and suit jackets or power suits are garments associated with confidence/ power/ assurance. I looked up suit styles from the 1960s and 70s and took inspirations from their shape and line, their fits/collars/ pockets and zips.
The type of clothing I wanted to create from this line-up is something for the Modern Woman, something that portrays a message of power and of strength, something that makes sure their model is listened to and heard.