Gabriela Arias Egana

This degree work investigates Chilean heritage as an attempt to comprehend diasporic identities with conflicting cultural origins. The research presents a collection of five full body explorations in textile developments interpreting the combination of traditional and contemporary Chilean dress, textile and cultural archetypes.

To conduct this investigation, personal experiences of being a second generation immigrant in Sweden have been applied in appreciating how to construct character and story with the aid of textile folding techniques. The principles of accordion pleats and polygonic structures have been explored in unconventional materials to inform silhouette and traditional textile patterns have been translated into handcrafted and laser cut appliqué techniques to create graphical expressions.

The importance of this work has been to find a personal understanding in a complex state of cultural heritage in the face of contemporary western fashion.