“She carries her own bag,” conveys the paradox of the female experience, existing as simultaneously hyper-visible and structurally invisible. While women’s bodies and behaviours are constantly scrutinised, the systems shaping everyday life, from workplaces to technologies to institutional standards, remain predominantly designed for the male default. In this context, visibility does not equal recognition, it signifies critique and an expectation of constant adjustment to environments that never considered women’s existence.
Inspired by Caroline Criado-Perez’s Invisible Women, the collection examines how women navigate these systemic data gaps. The process of adjustment is often normalised and framed as a universal experience, thus structural inequity remains unseen.
Consequently, femininity becomes a performative surface, required to remain visually pleasing and “agreeable” despite fundamental structural exclusion. Rather than presenting visibility as empowerment, this project explores its inherent tension and fragility. The aesthetic language merges “subversive prep” and “imperfect romance” juxtaposing softness and beauty with misalingment and disruption. Through subtle interference, contrast and intentional imbalance, the garments question the normalisation of being structurally overlooked while simultaneously following the unachievable beauty standards.
The collection is embodied by Iris, a muse who is confident, introspective and playfully observant of the systems that fail her. She carries a bag not as a accessory, but as a quiet collection of preparation. Within it are clips, ties, and small objects, tools she uses to subtly alter her clothing throughout the day, physically reshaping garments to fit a world that didn’t consider her. Iris does not move with resentment, she moves with affection and curiosity, reclaiming space through the very act of adjustment.
The collection photographed on location — in the corporate interior it argues with. A hundred and ten frames, shot by Julia Schäfers, art direction and styling by me. Hover to slow it down, click any frame to open it full screen.
Sixty-two lookbook frames, grouped look by look — shot against warm studio paper so each garment reads on its own terms, away from the office set. Photography by Julia Schäfers; art direction and styling by me.
From the historical removal of functional pockets in women’s clothing to the invention of the modern purse, women have been systematically pushed into a loop of inconvenience. We treat the handbag as a norm, but it evolved out of a lack of consideration for women’s utility.
Often dismissed as “just an accessory”, the handbag is in fact a historical marker of female autonomy. This collection turns it inside out: every clip, pin, buckle and fastening in the garments is sourced from the contents of the muse’s own bag — the hidden toolkit of daily adjustment made visible, structural, and decorative.
“It was only when handbags stopped being seen as functional and became ‘beautiful’ that people saw them as the uncontested trope of femininity.” Saumya Kalia
Reading Caroline Criado-Perez’s Invisible Women opened the systemic side of the concept: a world designed around a male default, where women constantly reshape themselves to fit environments that treat them as an afterthought. To ground that in lived experience I sat down with Antra Johary and Marianna Piperigou Grammatika, Aerospace Engineering Master’s students at TU Delft. The full interview runs as an editorial spread inside the collection book.
“Choosing what I wear has become my way of actively challenging the STEM stereotypes. In my mind, being put together is like this weird, personal act of activism.”
“We decided that our micro-acts of feminism are going to be dressing ourselves beautifully, wearing the makeup, wearing the heels.”
Each look pairs oversized corporate tailoring with hyper-feminine textiles — laser-cut fringe, hand-woven bobby-pin check, sequinned fur, dyed and digitally printed silk. Every closure is an object lifted from the handbag: hair clips replacing buttons, bobby pins woven into wool, safety pins holding a knit together.
The full 51-page collection book — designed, art-directed and laid out by me. It opens with a letter from the designer and the concept statement, moves through the handbag research and the TU Delft editorial interview, then presents the line-up, the material and colour card, and every look with its editorial imagery, process spread and technical drawings.
drag sideways — click any spread to open the book
The full flat pack: front and back views for all eighteen garments, with construction callouts — blind side zippers, waistband facings, oversized sleeve plackets, collar stands, understitching, buttonholes, the layered leather fringe and the bobby-pin check print. Drawn in Illustrator alongside CLO3D mock-ups used to test volume and fit before cutting.
A year of the project, documented spread by spread — concept building, the research into the handbag and the male default, print and textile experiments, laser cutting and 3D printing at the Makers Lab, CLO3D mock-ups, toiles, refits and the final realisation.
Every document from the graduation project, in full — open in the browser or download.
The complete publication: designer’s letter, concept, handbag research, TU Delft editorial interview, line-up, material & colour card, all six looks with editorial imagery, process and flats.
PDF · 51 pp · 12 MB ↓135 spreads tracking the project from first concept building through research, textile experiments, prints, toiles, fittings and realisation.
PDF · 135 pp · 14 MB ↓Front and back flats for all eighteen garments with construction details and fabric callouts.
PDF · 19 pp · 6 MB ↓The slide deck presented at the final graduation assessment.
PDF · 26 pp · 4 MB ↓