Kelly McCullough

“I was lucky to get the colour Bilbao – the colour green. For my research I looked at many different angles and ideas. The name Bilbao is a city in Spain that is known for its green mountains. The architecture in Bilbao is very curvy and flowy. With the theme being ‘new beginnings’ and my colour being green I went on to look at how nature reproduces to make new plants and seedlings – turning over a new life.

My design is what that new leaf looks like coming out of lockdown. Everyone had different experiences during lockdown, but now we can come away from all that, into a new light and look forward to brighter days ahead. We can put it in the past and focus on the future. From these ideas I came up with this design, showing someone coming out of lockdown and dark times. She’s very keen to move on and reconnect with everyone.

The flared pants and curvy flounces draped across the body and on the bottom of the pants come from inspiration from the architecture and the silhouette of thew mountains in Bilbao. They represent her moving into new light, she’s shedding away the darkness and underneath her new colour. The soft flowy rounded movement of them as she walks gives a gentle kind positive feeling. The sleeve represents how she used to be, what part of the old leaf looked like and what she is leaving behind in the past as the splits give the idea that they are melting away, leaving her in a new wonderful and bright world.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2020

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