Unlaced is a textiles-led womenswear collection exploring inherited craft, female identity and the evolving role of women through dress. Rooted in personal narrative, the project draws inspiration from my grandmother, a skilled embroiderer and lace maker whose creativity remained largely within the domestic sphere. As a shy woman, her craftsmanship was never fully realised professionally; through Unlaced, I aim to continue what she could not, bringing inherited forms of feminine craft into a contemporary womenswear context.

The collection investigates how women have historically been shaped through dress to appear desirable for the male gaze, particularly during the Regency period where femininity was closely tied to marriageability and appearance.

Simultaneously, it questions whether contemporary society has moved beyond these expectations or merely reshaped them. Drawing on examples of women adopting masculine dress as liberation, including Bloomer reform dress, George Sand and Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking, all of which were met with varying forms of male anxiety, criticism and resistance, the collection explores changing perceptions of femininity, female autonomy, and women’s personal identity through dress.

Textiles sit at the core of the practice, reinterpreting traditional craftsmanship through innovation. Using Wilcom digital embroidery, screen-printed devoré and my own hand-drawn and digitally developed Toile de Jouy, Unlaced transforms inherited embroidery and personal memories into contemporary textile applications. Contrasting feminine and masculine Regency-inspired silhouettes constructed through silk, organza and modal fabrics, the collection seeks to symbolically unlace the corset, moving women away from historical restriction and towards a contemporary language of confidence, freedom and self-expression.