About Me
Hi, I’m Ruby Wilkinson, a graduate from Northumbria University.
Ruby was inspired by her brother, his creative output to the world led her to discover this gap in the market for wearable feminine menswear clothing. She manipulated her own clothing to discover new menswear garments in a contemporary way.
My message is: by creating this new side to menswear, it can become accessible for anyone that wants to discover the freedom of being daring and flamboyant through their own individual self-expression. Yes, menswear has its restrictions, but by keeping some traditional menswear requirements, such as practicality and fabrication, this style of menswear will become more accepted throughout our society today.
INSPIRATION
My initial idea grew from my brother’s flamboyance and gender-fluid views.
Me and my brother were shopping one day, and the countless times he picked up women’s clothing and said, “I wish they had this in my size” or “why can’t menswear have this cut”. It made me question everything about menswear. Of course, designer brands such as Gucci, with dandies like Harry Styles, are thriving in feminine menswear, however, there seems to be a gap between feminine menswear that is accessible to everyone, but also isn’t a women’s chiffon dress on a man.
It is important for me to mention that this inspiration grew into my second project that I am showcasing. This project again looks into an ambiguous side to menswear. This project evolves around what masculinity can look like through 14th century armour and how the idea of armour can be represented in a contemporary and feminine way today.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Cover Page
Concept Board - Crisis To Masculinity
Written Concept - Crisis To Masculinity
Fabric and Colour - Crisis To Masculinity
Womenswear On Model Development
Sleeve Development
Jacket Development
Hood Development
Lineup - Crisis To Masculinity
Range Plan - Crisis To Masculinity
Written Concept - The Warrior Within
Concept Board - The Warrior Within
Muse - The Warrior Within
Fabric and Colour - The Warrior Within
Mini Mannequin Development
Hood Development
Glove Development
Lineup - The Warrior Within
Range Plan - The Warrior Within
DETAIL
I used my own clothing to manipulate on my model to create my silhouettes.
This was the first thing I did to start my research in this project. This way of working allowed me to collect a range of key silhouettes from multiple garments with clear details of where seams and finishings would be. I wanted to explore the restrictions that would come from my model not being able to fit into my clothing and where these imperfections might occur and how it would look. This was key to my research as I didn’t want these outcomes to look exactly like it did on me.
“There is an almost toxic masculinity monopoly over menswear fashion which I like to go against by combining a non-familiar style, with a familiar personality” – Joseph Wilkinson (Muse)
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
