Emilia Dee wishes for the viewer of her project to be shocked – wanting everything to be almost too much and overbearing to begin with, but upon closer inspection, the beauty evolves, in a similar way to the story of the Ugly Duckling. 

Within her research Emilia has looked at unconventional art, sculpture, and even the human form. Taking inspiration from your Nan’s floral fabric sofa, kitsch art, and unattractive areas of the body; she has warped, bulged, and exaggerated it all to create an unsettling atmosphere. Whilst working with clashing colours and prints, Emilia wants the viewer to feel that they are in a brash market where everything is in a state of chaos. As a result, she’s echoed this using tacky floral prints of altering proportions, distasteful sofa jacquards, and a print of her own dog as the foundations to her collection, whilst adding padding in areas that are seen as unconventional by society’s beauty standards. Beauty is very subjective, and within this project Emilia wanted to take the viewer on an exploration of how she sees beauty in the boldest way possible. 

Emilia seeks a large amount of her inspiration from within sculpture; being able to design outwardly from the body into unique shapes really interests her, and bridges the link between art and fashion. She sees her work as more of an art piece, wanting to shock and attract people rather than to be worn to pop to the shops for a pint of milk. In aid of her design, Emilia Dee also explored the Triadisches Ballett for the rounded shapes, as they illustrated an aura of uneasiness within their structure, whilst also being heavily inspired by the likes of Grayson Perry, Rei Kawakubu and Leigh Bowery. Emilia believes we can learn a lot by other professions and art disciplines, so this is something she wanted to include within her project and within creating shapes that will stand out for all the wrong (but right!) reasons.