Hazzel Swenson
Fungus
Fall/Winter Womens' Ready-to-Wear
From the bold, deadly Amanita, to the unassuming shelf mushroom, this collection is inspired by the textures of mushroom gills, creeping lichens, and soft moss. It is an exploration of texture; needle-felted wools, organic pleated satins, bubbly knits, and winding jacquards printed with vines.
The silhouette is voluminous and whimsical, yet the woman is intimidating and dangerous, like the red Amanita and black mold that inspires the collection's color.
This collection took a great deal of iterations to achieve the right balance of color, and the right iteration of motifs. The motifs were very important to me; I wanted the collection to remind the viewer of mushrooms without knowing the theme, so we have the silhouette in the clothes and even the hair. The ruffles and organic pleats look like the gills of a mushroom, or a shelf mushroom. The colors are taken from fungus as well, like a mossy forest floor.
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I explored a range of fabrics and manipulations before settling on felting as the main motif. The result was striking, so I even incorporated a print to emphasize it. The lines of the garments are simple, as I wanted to put the emphasis on the textiles without too much distraction.
