Collection title: 'Hold Onto Your Hope'
photograph, Germain Collins

The concept for my collection stems from research on New York City in the 1930s, and how the Depression affected fashion. The element of ‘escapism’ was part of the Depression, and in particular, was seen in the films of the ‘30s which invited people to the cinema to escape their lives. The 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz was my starting point. Considered a political satire of Franklin D Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’, the film is laden with symbolism—some of it focused on optimism for the damaged American economy, hard hit by the Great Depression. The tornado is the depression. The Yellow Brick Road is the way of hope and freedom. Dorothy begins her journey to Oz just like Americans searched for a way out of the economic crisis.

I’ve used a collection of subdued colours, against which I ‘play’ with the idea of the ‘Ruby Slippers’ as a symbol of hope, and have splashed this idea of hope throughout my collection using colour, and combination of fabric and textures in unexpected ways.

The title of my collection is: ‘Hold onto your Hope’ – a line from ‘Optimistic Voices’ by E.Y. Harburg for The Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy and her companions approach the Emerald City after they awaken from the stupor of the poppy fields, they sing:

You're out of the woods,
You're out of the dark,
You're out of the night
Step into the sun,
Step into the light
Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart

HOLD ONTO YOUR HOPE…

Fashion, like art, has the power to convey a message. Mine is one of Hope.

Copyright © 2009 Deirdre May Williams. All Rights Reserved.