The physical body is often separated for migrant workers. For many of our participants, individual identity and any feelings of fashion, physical self and ego were pushed aside in favour of hard practical necessity the moment they accepted their professional roles. Their lives in the UK exist almost purely to fulfil the needs of the spaces they work in.
Drawing inspiration from Poppy Chancellor and Daisy de Villeneuve, participants were asked to create clothing items that either accentuated or exaggerated their favourite and least favourite body parts. The dichotomy between the paper-doll quality of the dresses made and the activity allowed participants to reflect on aspects of their physical selves they disliked as well as those that they valued.
Text: Ameeta Lodhia
Facilitator: Sarah Reid