My grandmothers, both Turkish housewives, gifted me bags of crocheted lace, embroidered tablecloths, and napkins. These objects led me to an ongoing exploration of women’s traditional crafts—lace, embroidery, crochet—and the labor required for their existence. I question whether these crafts could exist without centuries of female repression rooted in domesticity and patriarchy, and how beauty often emerges from constraint. At the same time, growing up under strict school dress codes made me acutely aware of how women’s bodies are policed and blamed. This work seeks to merge freedom in female dress with a deep respect for craft and tradition, while embracing modernity. Lace is starched to rigidity, leather is molded into delicate patterns, and references to metal grates evoke both protection and warning. Silhouettes that exaggerate the female form poke fun at the hyperfetishization of women's bodies, military inspiration hints at the inherent repression of authority, playfulness with transparency and traditional lingerie emphasizes the dialectics between revealing and concealing, undressing and dressing. I imagine a world where traditionally “feminine” textiles signify strength, where fragility is not equated with weakness, and where women can choose visibility or concealment with equal confidence.

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