Entitled “A Report on Solidarity,” this collection is about the clothes we wear and why we are wearing them right now.
Marissa Petteruti’s work explores the significance of ordinary clothes to re-evaluate fashion’s role in today’s socio-political atmosphere of uncertainty. Since fashion cannot exist without clothes, it is with this collection Marissa questions not why fashion matters, but rather what fashion matters? At this particular moment, when terrorist attacks, fake news, race and gender inequality, and presidential tweets saturate the news, fashion is not a priority. Given this level of global unrest, the designer argues that ordinary clothes become the most powerful form of fashion. The ubiquity of t-shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, track pants, and the like have the ability to unite individuals in solidarity – something we need now more than ever.
Inspired by ethnographic research of every-day wardrobes and supported by pragmatic theory, this collection for men and women preserves the authenticity of ordinary clothes, while modernizing them through new construction techniques and contemporary graphics. In addition, several pieces are transformable and made from pre-existing garments, reflecting a sustainable design approach through multi-functionality. Marissa aims to create equality, diversity, and solidarity through appearance with this collection.
MARISSA PETTERUTI
Her current work analyzes ordinary clothes to re-evaluate fashion’s role amidst the chaos of our current times. In this age of uncertainty, anxiety, and political disruption, she questions fashion’s importance in our everyday lives and society. Integrating practice and research methods – the combination of texts, interviews, photographic experiments, and material exploration inform her multi-disciplinary approach to design. Pushing the boundaries of fashion and its means, her designs emphasize the non-binary nature of ordinary clothes as suitable for both men and women. She currently live in New York City and recently graduated with a degree in fashion design at Parsons School of Design.
33 MAGAZINE 