Hans Bellmer’s The Doll provides the muse for Rosie Coggin Levy’s graduate collection: Beautiful, pure, passive, a man’s plaything. The doll, Girl abides and is puppeteered in a man’s libertine, self-serving fantasy, where Shibari (Japanese rope bondage) becomes a character in Girl’s life, a representation of restriction in all the forms it takes: Man.
Coggin Levy’s collection explores snapshots in the life of girl at different stages towards her maturity. An all too familiar narrative is presented through the lens of girl, maturing, parallel to the effects that the male gaze has on her life.

At 12 Girl is objectified – eroticized prematurely.

At 15 Man’s influence on girl leads her to explore her own accelerated sexuality.

At 18 Girl is destructive and forgets herself in the pursuit of going out and promiscuity.

At 24 Girl has found balance and grace in herself yet is held back professionally.

At 25 Girl has fallen pregnant and is forced to marry man.

Girl, now a woman, settles into a cosy life. She has security, at the same time stifled by commitment to suburban family life.

Coggin Levy’s is a concept-focused designer, sourcing inspiration from art, music, literature, and film to build a fleshed-out narrative. Her background in tailoring gives her the skills to develop her concepts. She has been a design intern at Vivienne Westwood Man, London.