Deotto Alessandra – ADVFX 2024-2027

Following my previous analysis i started gathering more references to have a more clear understanding on how to make two very different aspects (the futuristic design and the ethnic elements ) meet.

Beside researching traditional costumes from asia , south asia and arab countries, i started looking into costume design and artists.

One I found really pertinent to the case is Eiko Ishioka. Her ability to fuse ethnic elements with a narrative that seems to be completely alien to the theme is what surprised me, especially her work on the film Immortals directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar.

Here is an updated moodboard after my research:

Since I am aiming for a statuesque, clean and conceptual design I also found the work of stylist and designer Rick Owens especially inspiring. His designs feel protective, armored and almost ritualistic.

I then started gathering some ideas, starting from the headdress of the Bride. Since she is literally a Bride i wanted to take inspiration from some cultures where brides have some form of decorative head covering and when they marry is not always possible to see their full faces.

This in my opinion embodies quite well the idea of disruption, otherness and refusal to accept a pre-engineered role by the Bride.

I first started evaluating some more traditional head coverings :

But then i scrapped the idea as it lacked the imposing feeling I was looking for, I leaned into a more costume driven design also inspired by Eiko Ishioka and Bojana Nikitovic (Custom Designer for the series Dune).

After considerations I was left with two options:

I chose the second one as i felt it conveys more :

• The idea of a bride with veils
• feels more elevated and peculiar
• she is partially unknowable as she wears a sheer veil.

FINDING HER COSTUME

After drawing a very simple mannequin i started exploring options. One thing was certain: I wanted to maintain the statue- like silhouette of the bride, therefore I was looking for a dress down to the floor. I wanted to push the shapes a bit more trying to elevate her a bot but I also wanted the dress to feel like a suit, like she is encapsulated inside the wedding dress much like she is forced into her role as a non- consensual being/ bride.

Final sketch:

Colours and textures :

For the colours, I decided to steer into a high contrast palette. In a world where the dominant colours turn into beige, grey, sand-like hues, I wanted her to keep the white of the bride, but ot add the element of disruption with the red and the texture from Moroccan textiles. The choice of colours stands for a symbolic white, which is fairly typical in Western culture, but also sacrifice; she is indeed a sacrifice to hubris and male desire. I also chose a hig-contrast red colour as in many cultures red is the colour chosen for brides, symbolising good luck, joy and fortune. This high contrast made me think about the impossibility of her role and her only, single act for herself which is, indeed, an act of ” rebellion” .