The Absent Legion exists to counteract the systemic sexism that pervades the culture of written history. What texts survive today were written with a gendered bias whether recognised or not. however it was the confluence of the complex fashion industry and our written history that created the sexist design culture we have today.
In designing a solution to this problem I fused the vernacular costume of the female samurai archers and the women of the Scottish Highlands. It was in this synthetic research I discovered the purest utility in feminine identity. Catalysts further defining the aesthetic of The Absent Legion was Lithographer Gwen Frostic, and knitwear Designer Amy Twigger Holroyd. It was in the projects final construction and fabrication The Absent Legion further lent itself to highlighting the subtle sexism within the complex fashion industry. The gendered dichotomy of public and domestic spheres had shaped much of where the industry finds nouveau inspirations or means of production. However it is always the Masculine Public sphere that consumes or adopts traits of the feminine domestic sphere, never the reverse.
The Absent Legion exposed the subtle and profound sexism that exists in our history and industry, because of only the purest reversal of values for the domestic sphere over the public sphere. Its these same values that added resonance and complexity to gender identity and challenged the hegemony of body image we’ve accepted in design culture.
3, size 6 dress forms
4, size 8 dress forms