GYANENDU BARUAH

The project is inspired from a documentary based on the Magdalene Laundries.
The women were made to atone for their sins for having any relations with men
before marriage. They were made to work like labourers and were asked to shed
all their physical beauty as Mary Magdalene.
The major points of reference for me in this collection were the attributes
associated with the women in this scenario and the stark contrast between the
real person and the attributes associated with them. I have divided the collection
into two parts, the first part being the : protagonist and her culture, and the
second part being the: manifestation of the antagonist.
In the first part of the collection consisting three looks I tried to explore the idea
of a maiden. The major references were the Romanian costumes for this part of
the story as they have strong mythological references and girls wear white or
off-white outfits as a part of traditional costumes for various occasions. The
second part has references from mythological stories of Dante’s inferno. The idea
of fetishism and subversive cultures plays major roles mostly referring to the
new generation of youth living their dreams in the underground club culture.