Hobbled

Based on the Cocoon Coat 1913 by Paul Poiret.

“Hobbled” responds to the 2025 statistic that one in eight UK women have experienced sexual assault, domestic abuse, harassment and stalking.

The title references Paul Poiret’s hobble skirts which were cut so narrowly from knee to ankle that women could scarcely walk, sometimes even binding their legs to stop seams from splitting. I have remade his design for a coat, using dye in peacock colours over digitally designed cloth which has fragments of text and statistics relating to harm and control. Trailing ribbons. spikes and hands encircle the body, but over this language of restraint and pain leaves unfurl, flowers push through, butterflies flutter as symbols of resistance, renewal and hope.

Beneath the coat lies a dyed silk dress marked with snake-like forms, embroidered with phrases beginning “free from, and free to”.

Designed and digitally printed cotton cloth stencilled and dyed. Embroidered and dyed silk. Leaves, flowers and butterflies: printed and dyed cloth, Tyvek, paint, and machine stitch.