DESIGNER BIO

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Rose Holland has a background in traditional crafts such as hand knitting, crochet, and quilting. Working with her hands makes her feel connected to the generations of her female ancestors, to whom these skills were essential, but unappreciated. Her luxury streetwear designs are a fusion between handmade craft traditions and current and future fashion technological innovations – such as digital print, CAD and AI.  She has a background in academics and philosophy and has a highly cerebral approach to her design practice. Her work is inspired by 20th century history, science fiction film and literature as well as feminism and intersectionality. A common theme seen within her work is the ethics of technology and bodies.

DESIGNER STATEMENT

LOVE THE BOMB is a conceptual collection of luxury garments taking reference from science fiction films and literature of the 1960s combined with the myth that cockroaches can survive a nuclear apocalypse. The collection was inspired by the harsh juxtaposition between the optimism and anxiety that came with the development of nuclear technology, and the complicated legacy of the “Atomic Era”. The garments and imagery reflect a satirical perspective on how the existence of nuclear weaponry makes human beings inherently insignificant and powerless. LOVE THE BOMB uses one of a kind knit, crochet, craft, patternmaking and beading techniques to create unique fabrications reminiscent of patterns and structural details seen in the entomological world and atomic energy, juxtaposed with optimistic atomic era inspired colours and silhouettes. Although the title and imagery for this collection come from satire and speculative fiction, I must acknowledge the victims of the many conflicts, bombings, and human rights atrocities taking place on earth right now.  All human beings have an immutable right to peace, freedom, and equality. As an artist, designer, and citizen of earth, I stand for global demilitarization, and I seek to express that within my work. I have no intention to trivialize the atrocities of warfare, but rather to provide an artistic interpretation of specific privileged cultural and individual perspectives which have informed science fiction media through the 20th century, and how this media has impacted me.