Giulia Rhodes

My research and design process began the moment I saw a striking 1971 portrait by Helmut Newton. The craze, the passion, the mania in her eyes. There was this pull toward hyper-femininity, but not in the traditional sense. It wasn't the usual beauty or jewelry campaign. It was raw, unpolished, magnetic. Unconventional and honest. It made me think of myself. My friends. My sister. The girls I grew up with. Perfectionism runs deep in us, engraved in how we live, work, perform. The mindset that more is better. More work, more studying, more partying, more striving. But still, it's never enough. We're all chasing this warped, unattainable idea of perfection. Mine looks different than yours, but we're all burning ourselves out for some arbitrary prize, Who got the least sleep? Who went the hardest? Who crossed the line the furthest? We push and push, not to feel, but to numb. Not taught how to rest. To sit still. To feel. So we keep going. And somewhere along the way, I learned to feel most alive when I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But that's not aliveness, it's conditioning, This collection is about that condition. Sheers, furs, leathers. Clashing colours, stripes, polka dots. Hair, bedding, impulse. Restriction as a path to freedom. Running to numb. Masking to hide. Obsession and repetition. Control or chaos. Knots, volume, mess. Hair as identity, cut, torn, manic. It's about the tension between beauty and madness. Between control and collapse. It's about the muse in all of us, the one going through it, making it look glamorous.