Sage Townsend, designer and recent London College of Fashion graduate in MA Fashion Artefact, takes an explicitly political stance in her work. Her most recent collection of accessories explores the objectification of female genitalia, genital anxiety, surgery and mutilation and their effect on women’s psychological and sexual health.
The Cu(n)t Collection uses fashion accessories not just as aesthetic objects, but also as a platform to explore and address political, ethical and social ideas.
Aiming to imbue her work with a cross cultural dialogue about attitudes and aesthetic values relating to female genitalia, the underlying message of her creative projects is that expectations should be challenged by promoting fashion accessories to act as more than just functional or aesthetic objects and to define their role as a platform to explore and address political, ethical and social ideas and expectations.
The main focus of this project, which was exhibited in MA15 Exhibition at LCF, is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) a deeply rooted cultural and traditional practice that occurs in specific populations and is currently being challenged by governments, activists, feminists and social media groups worldwide.
To learn more about FGM, have a read of our feature on Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
Image provided by Sage Townsend