A lifetime of Endurance

Frida Kahlo had a tragic accident at a young age. Due to that accident, she was bedridden for a while and that’s where she discovered the love for painting. She often painted herself and what she was experiencing with her chronic illness. Not only did she use painting to help herself, but she also used fashion. For example, she made plaster corsets to give her support. She then would paint on it, creating a textile pattern. Interestingly, every outfit had an intentional purpose, but it rather looked like a choice and not a necessity. For example, she used a lot of volume in her skirt to disguise one of her shorter legs.

 

For this collection, I took inspiration from her different paintings, symbolism, and fashion sense. I purposely, just chose paintings that expressed her pain with her chronic illness. One of those paintings is, The Broken Column, the nails here imply the sharp pain she was constantly facing. I tried to understand what she was going through during my research and development. Regardless of all the tragic events in her life, she never lost hope. Her story is inspirational because we can endure through the pain and become our best versions.