Te Rina Coffin

Vessels of Decay

How might a disruption in the temporality and placement of decay in clothing and wearer push the limits of its tangibility and function, contributing to dialogue on decay, clothing, fashion and death?

The clothing is observed upon the wearer, now fragile and embellished with decadence which falls apart as the wearer slides it on. Dust from the dirt cascades off it, threads rip apart and fragments fall. The wearer, as well as accelerating the decay, invigorates it with their vitality.

Falling-Apartness wishes to build upon the dialogue between decay, clothing, fashion and death. This research project seeks to disrupt the temporality and placement of decay in clothing by pushing the structural limits of its tangibility and function. Through this, the project seeks to challenge the role of clothing as providing shelter, warmth or protection by designing clothing that seeks to expose the vulnerability and mortality in its wearer as it decays by ripping, un-weaving and crumbling apart. There is an opportunity to explore the undeniable beauty in decay’s release, a way to come to terms with our own mortality through the experience of decayed clothing and the relationship it has with our bodies.