Introduction

Although fashion design is known to be a cruel, stressful, and pretentious career choice, in everyday life wearable art holds true to people and their personalities. My capstone project Fashion Journaling addresses how fashion design can improve symptoms of anxiety and stress. The project will be four pairs of pages (eight pages total) that highlight anxiety and depression symptoms. The left page will be a journal of my process and emotions and the right will be two dress designs.

Artistic Influence 

One of the artists I was inspired by was Sophie Zhang. According to  Jamilah Muhammad, author of “Fashion Designer Derives Inspiration from Mental Health Journey,” Zhang suffered from depression while studying fashion design in college, but she was able to use the light at the end of the tunnel for her senior thesis. One of the gowns she created was a sparkly beaded gown with a blue collar and red petals. Thus, Zhang shows that you can use fashion design to alleviate mental health struggles. My creative works will use scrapbooking and washi tape/alcohol marker designs. The tools that I used were ink pens and an exacto knife.

Scholarly Influence 

Based on IIFT in “Fashion Designing and Mental Health: The Therapeutic Potential of Creativity,” “Engaging in creative activities stimulates our brain’s creative side, encouraging us to actively solve problems and manifest our ideas. This can be particularly beneficial in managing daily obstacles such as workplace stress, financial management, and relationship issues.” Designing from the soul is a healthy coping mechanism rather than turning to self harm or substance abuse. People get to have fun while expressing complicated emotions.

Methods

The methods that I used were library research and online journals. For some of my designs, I flipped to Rococo styles to understand what to add to my designs. It helped me to learn from other artists and historical styles to create designs. I followed the color theme and formal theme for each drawing. The goal was to emphasize emotions. Some feelings I chose to capture were complex physical sensations since mental health can definitely take a toll on the human body.

Audience & Impact

The audience for my project is fashion enthusiasts who cannot pursue a career as a fashion designer. The impact that I hope my work will have on my audience is that mental health is becoming more prevalent than ever, and it should not be a scary thing. It can be an awkward, confusing, and ultimately beautiful experience. I believe beauty is pain.

References

admin, IIFT. “Fashion Designing and Mental Health: The Therapeutic Potential of Creativity.” IIFT Blog, 8 July 2023, www.iiftbangalore.com/blog/fashion-design-and-mental-health/.

Garay, Andrés, and Jorge Latorre. “Martín Chambi: A `Self-Portrait’.” History of Photography, vol. 31, no. 2, Summer 2007, pp. 201–09. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/03087298.2007.10443518.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to my friends who gave me their feedback, my scholars peers, and Heather for being so patient and supportive.