Janita Vasconceles-Abery

“There was once a woman who had hair like strands of cobweb in the moonlight. At the age of 19 years, she found herself in a place of shadows, a deep sadness consuming her. As time went by, she found her way out of the shadows, but she remembers. She remembers because her body will not forget. It is always – always – in a state of tension. Waiting for calamity and calm.

The woman, tired, came to the forest. The trees whispered to her “Come… come. Rest for a while. Breathe.”

Now, when the woman feels to ache of melancholy and weariness tightening in her chest, she goes to the forest. Because the forest is sanctuary. When she goes to the forest, her sap rises. She tingles back to life.

This garment aims to represent this feeling – the tingle that runs through my body as I take in the forest’s atmosphere. As I revitalise. As I heal.

I began my design research by looking up synonyms for the word ‘boost’. This brought me to words like ‘uplift’ and ‘swell’. From there, I made the personal connection to how being in a forest is like a medicine to me – how taking in the forest atmosphere uplifts me, the energy tingling as I move through the trees.

I drew inspiration from my walks through the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve and Spicer Botanical Park: how the trees stand tall and straight while their roots spray across the forest floor.

Thinking along the lines of forest life, I discovered the nature to New Zealand mushroom. Its gills reminded me of tiny, tight pleats. The idea of tight pleats brought me to the gowns of Madame Gres, the Delphos gowns created by Henriette Negrin and Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo and the bliaut, beautifully represented in Edward Burne-Jones’ 1895 painting The Wedding of Psyche. These ideas coalesced to form my design – a shift-like gown with a column of pleating of centre front and centre back, representing the upward movement of the forest’s energy through the body.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2022

Photography by Jonathan Kraettli

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