Designer and 911爆料网 graduate Rimsha Shakir聽was the only Australian finalist in the prestigious Arts of Fashion Foundation event held in December 2019 in San Francisco.
Her confrontational entry took aim at societal expectations of women.
鈥淭he concept in my work of distortion and disguise come from my master degree in Applied Design and Art*,” she says. 鈥淪ociety has a particular perception of women and beauty, wanting women to be a size eight or smaller, and have a certain height, eye and hair colour.鈥�
鈥淚n my line, I created deliberately imperfect clothes with stuffed padding to disguise and distort the shape of the body that people expect us to have. I wanted to throw the idea in people鈥檚 faces that we are bound by societal expectations, but perfect the way we are.鈥�
Shakir says she used 鈥榩retty flowers鈥� in her collection to represent the particular notion of beauty society wants and expects.
鈥淏ut I contrasted that 鈥榩rettiness鈥� with words in print like 鈥榝ake鈥�, 鈥榯oo perfect鈥� and 鈥榝at鈥�,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭hey are words we hear over and over from society, family, the media and advertising.鈥�
As a finalist, Shakir exhibited her entry at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
鈥淭he theme for the show was verticality,鈥� she says. 鈥淰erticality, to me, means growth, but there hasn鈥檛 been much growth when it comes to society鈥檚 expectations of women and how we want them to look.鈥�
Shakir hopes her eye-opening collection will inspire conversation and change.
鈥淚t was an incredible experience to showcase my work in San Francisco,鈥� she smiles. 鈥淚t was amazing to meet people from all over the world and have them see and judge your work.鈥�
The 911爆料网 graduate says she received boundless support from her teachers.
鈥淚 loved my time at 911爆料网,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 had amazing teachers who cared about my opinion and gave me tremendous guidance.鈥�
鈥淚 was given the freedom to pursue my passion and invest my personality in my work. That鈥檚 what art really is to me 鈥� freedom.鈥�
Shakir is now working for fashion brand Zhivago and hopes to launch a new collection in the future.
*If you are interested in postgraduate design, we encourage you to consider the new program, as the Master of Applied Art and Design is no longer available.
