About Me
I'm Zoe, a fashion design graduate from Sheffield Hallam University.
Zoe MacCormack is a creative from London who specialises in womenswear fashion design. Her research base is wide and draws from a range of art, history and art history. Her aim is of fantasy and physical comfort in her garments, creating bold silhouettes in all natural fibres and upcycling unwanted fabrics to reinvent them.
I am inspired by the flawed, dishevelled woman who has a raw and natural beauty. I design for creative free spirits, my muses are my friends with their strong feminine energy, sense of freedom and creativity, playfulness, softness and strength. I am designing bold womenswear; I want the wearer to still be comfortable physically in the garments while pushing the emotional boundary of conforming.
INSPIRATION
‘The Divine Feminine Messenger’ is a collection that draws inspiration from the divine feminine.
While also aiming to confront the issue of the suppression of the female and feminine dimension. Inspired by my Catholic upbringing I centred my muse around the elusive figure of Mary Magdalene and the narrative that surrounds her. A fascinating story convoluted by the threat of a strong woman being a central figure in a patriarchal religion. Men having constantly misinterpreted and distorted religious scripture for their own benefit.
Exploring The Magdalene’s depiction in history and art, that of a sinner and saint and her as ‘Hairy Mary’. She represents both the sense of divinity and shame projected onto women; she was rendered covered in the symbol of her sins. Depictions by Artemisia Gentileschi inspired me, who like many female artists were largely forgotten by the cannon of art history until recently. I also draw on more esoteric images of archetypes of divine feminine figures in art and including the ones portrayed in Tarot.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
DETAIL
I wanted to embody the message of my collections concept through my design practice
creating a sense of nostalgia and wonder and conveying the relationship we have to the feminine including the maternal. For a few of my garments I have regenerated unused yellow silk fabric reinventing it from my mum’s old curtains into something of value. Whilst exploring ways to elevate the fabric into something even more unique and unusually beautiful. I think there is great emotional value of reimagining old fabrics into something new. Nostalgia and a special narrative is something people look for in clothes. They will look after and treasure the garments if they are unique with an attachment of psychological value.
“Woman is a ray of God. She is not that earthly beloved: she is creative, not created.” – Rumi.
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