Bernice Miller

My inspiration for this collection (my first) came about from my analysis of the mind under a state of psychosis. I wanted to try and understand what it might feel like to be bound and restricted by the mind and its activities. I am inspired by surrealism. My collection named "Madame Veronique's journey of Freedom and Restriction" is based upon a fictional character, who after being restricted by life and its events searched and found her freedom. The collection itself demonstrates and communicates strength and power. Some garments are dominating and overpowering (freedom) whereas others are tight and figure encapsulating (restriction). The base fabric for the collection is silk. This is a couture collection. To keep the collection modern and contemporary, I teamed the silk with waterproof fabric, which has been used to make the coat and jacket. Chiffon printed and plain, silk taffeta printed shirt and dress and silk trousers all make up this culmination of clothing. I love developing new and interesting silhouettes. Print is important to me; it allows you to express your illustrated idea on your garment idea. The oversized sleeves on both my coat and my jacket are made from one piece of fabric built into the body of the coat from the neck down. I wanted this collection to look simple and quite dramatic (but drama with a purpose), as well as aesthetically pleasing. This collection required a lot of consideration. In my opinion, a collection has to carry a story, it has to have a soul. True fashion is art. There is no point in designing for the sake of designing, as I believe that you will never create the best you can without going through the motions. Yeah it's just fashion at the end of the day, but to create special pieces requires you to be one with your concept exploring all the possible avenues, then and only then will you produce meaningful fashion, not faux fashion.