Pele Dress II

This is the finished garment in a collection of dresses representing Hawaii.

Living in Hawaii, one often forgets that they live atop a massive volcanic hotspot in the middle of the ocean. Each of the islands were formed by volcanoes spilling lava into the sea over millions of years until it finally ascended above the water. My first piece, "Pele", was inspired by the on going lava flows that occur in the Ring of Fire. The name of this piece is borrowed from the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes.
The way the molten lava flows over itself in its half liquid state reminded me of the scalloped drapes of ruched fabric. I chose to drape the fabric asymmetrically to represent the naturalness of a lava flow. The skirt of the dress was done in an orange satin to mimic the color and shine of hot lava. For the bodice of the dress, I chose to use red and black pleather and acrylic paints to represent the smooth lava as it is broken underneath by the molten layer. The ruffle of organza around the neck and edge of the bodice was added to represent the smoke and ash produced in the cooling of the lava rock.
The silhouette of the garment emerged from the story I wished to tell with this piece. As the pressure at the earth's core builds, the magma is pushed up in between the mantle until it breaks apart the upper crust. From here the flow comes forth in waves over itself until it cools to form new land.

Design by: Me
Model: Alexa N.
Photography by: Ayaka T.

Croquis:
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More Pictures:
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Other garments in this collection:
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