Part of the MA Footwear final ‘Haute Couture Trash’ collection, 2022.
Handmade painted leather over the knee boots with big bows.
Melegh: ‘The idea for this collection came when we were all in lockdown and I used to make shoes out of our household waste. The lack of studios and the method I used to make these mockups initially influenced the outcome of the boots. I started to question why things that should last do not, and those which should not, actually do. Could I go ahead a few steps and create a collection based on these items, but using high-quality materials? Could a bin bag be turned into a fashion piece? I became a one-person factory to go against how these everyday items were made – mastering working with wood, leather, screen printing, and animating. I wanted to surprise the viewer by using trompe-l’œil, juxtaposition, disdaining rationalism, scale changing, metamorphosis, and the assemblages of ordinary objects. I’m using shoes as a language of critique, to react to consumerism. Let’s take the bin out!’
Photographs by Sara Kovacs, model Brenda Tham.
