The key theme in Niamh Dobson’s collection is peering into British culture and how British people use social markers to style and categorise themselves.
Attempting to break down cliche British archetypes such as the ‘posh boy’ and trying to question what makes one a particular individual or part of a cohort of individuals similar.
Dobson commented, “It’s about unpicking what makes you part of that community and also taking the piss a little bit. Which is what I did.”
The colour scheme is from Eaton, which is a collegiate school and has 25 classes that represent different colours.
Using these colours brings forth Dobson’s idea that she felt growing up with social cues and social markers in British society, reflected in her pieces which were made deliberately very colourful and bold.
Hence, Dobson’s work aims to consistently reflect how women move from childhood to adulthood, how these colours never go away and remain consistent throughout.
Dobson uses a combination of deadstock materials and embroidery to make the pieces.
As pictured above, the most challenging piece was creating the internal structure to stay up, and the shape to remain with the weight from the fabric took time.
Already working with UK designer Patrick McDowell, Dobson intends to continue working in the industry as a designer and is ready to also try things out on her own.
“I want to continue doing more things on my own, and speak more on the culture in the UK and express how we put people on boxes and make a social commentary on these things,” said Dobson.
