Print-led textile designer, combining historical research, drawing and practical/digital print to create richly detailed, commercially aware surfaces, with a growing focus on product development and how textiles sit within a collection on the body.
Opulence as Instrument: Masculine Ornament, Feminine Force explores how ornament functioned as a tool of aristocratic male power in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France, particularly under Louis XIV. Through textiles such as lace, embroidery and brocade, elite menswear encoded hierarchy, authority and cultural dominance, with court dress operating as a controlled political system.
Following the French Revolution, this language of opulence shifted, as restrained tailoring replaced decorative excess and ornament became feminised. This project examines that transition and its cultural implications.
The design response reclaims historical ornament as a form of contemporary female agency, translating the visual codes of the “decorated male” into womenswear. Through embellished surfaces and symbolic motifs, the work reframes opulence not as excess, but as a deliberate expression of power, authorship and visibility.
These prints draw on the fleur-de-lis and rococo florals associated with French royalty, weaving in sunburst motifs and radiant detailing to echo Louis XIV’s “Sun King” symbolism while reimagining it for a contemporary, empowered wearer.
A womenswear collection, with each piece strongly connected to historic textiles, artefacts, or artworks from the court of Louis XIV.
