Mode Design (B.A.)

MAP OF THE SOUL - my point of view

Persona. Inner and Outer aesthetics.
The depiction of beauty standards in Asia and the west.

Profil Julia Zhou

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2021

“Map of the Soul” portrays the fusion of Asian and western culture from the perspective of someone who grew up in both worlds. What is beautiful? What is appropriate to design? The pieces are constructed to be visualising the idea of Asian and western garments. A symbiosis of dynamic silhouettes, that do not hug the natural female body, but are still considered feminine through shape and styling. It presents a collision between both worlds with a connection through a guideline made from experience and influences growing up, a “map”.

If you put a translucent object over a solid one, the solid will change its colour, just like that our environment can change our behaviour or affect our personality positively or negatively. Similarly, we are changing our behaviour for the outer world to be an acceptable version of society. Our consciousness protects us by creating a persona, a mask for our own safety.

Like this, the Asian culture and the west collide within the mind of an individual, which leads to a questionable understanding of our own. The outfits are heavily influenced by Chinese, Korean and Japanese traditional clothing, which also happens to be the most known worldwide. The western elements are depicted through the timeline of the renaissance and modern women. Opulent shapes should forward the various forms’ modernness, which should make a traditional silhouette more vibrant and dynamic.

It is always a challenge to view traditional clothing as a contemporary statement in our modern world. Some might take it as an innovative way to show off their culture; others might interpret it as fraud against their beliefs. The idea of “Map of the Soul” is to create a clear conscious of what is going on inside the human psyche. Everyone wants to embrace their real personality, but it is always hidden between layers of their persona. Escaping the idea of being an individual in a society that expects us to follow the same rules and have the same routines, embracing our inner child and the part that is rooted in our culture, our heritage.

My name is Julia Zhou, a fashion graduate from AMD Düsseldorf. I mostly spend time overthinking my process and designs, which turns out to be a big hustle for my two last working brain cells. During my studies at the AMD, I realised that I enjoy being a creative director for photo shootings or create styling concepts for outfit ideas. I’m not sure if that was the intention to study fashion design, but it surely helped me finding my path in the right direction.

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