Designing for Survival: A Performative Garment Exploring Unity, Migration, and Indigenous Rights

Brief

Design and make a garment for surviving social breakdown.

In Collaboration with

Clare Farrell (Fashion designer, activist, and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion.)

Team-mates

Jumleena Bhagawati, Reagan Samuel Bbengo, Marty Chen, Lingjia Fang

Date

16/01/23 - 20/01/23

Guided by our initial briefing and an inspiring conversation with Clare Farrell - fashion designer, activist, and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, we understood that garments could be far more than functional survival tools. They could become vessels for activism, resilience, and storytelling.

In a world where social systems are in flux, fashion transcends its role as mere clothing, it becomes a powerful tool for storytelling, survival, and community-building. For this project, our aim was not to just design an outfit; we wanted to create a performance, using the garment as a symbol to explore how unity and equality can help us survive social breakdowns.

At the heart of this exploration was the relationship between migrants and indigenous populations: how can these diverse groups come together, working in harmony for the greater good? Through our performance, we showcased the power of collaboration, shared history, and the need for mutual support in times of crisis.

Fashion, in this context, is not just about appearance- it is a vehicle for resilience, connection, and the telling of important, urgent stories.

- Timeline -

There were 5 stages in our overall design process which we overcame to complete this brief.

The five stages are represented below in the timeline.

- Research -

Our core concept for the project centered around the themes of unity and equality, particularly in the context of migration. Discrimination is a harsh reality many migrants face, whether due to ethnicity, nationality, religion, language, or accent. The effects of discrimination are wide-reaching, impacting labor and housing markets, mental health, and overall well-being.

Studies by Safi (2010), Nandi et al. (2020), and Schmitt et al. (2014) highlight the connection between discrimination and mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Discrimination doesn’t just harm individuals—it impacts society as a whole. It is crucial that we address these issues to build a more inclusive and welcoming world.

For inspiration, we turned to a protest I witnessed in Assam, India, which provided the backdrop for our concept.

The Protest That Inspired Us:

In 2019, the Indian government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA/CAB), leading to widespread protests. The act granted citizenship to migrants from certain religions and countries, igniting fears about demographic shifts, political rights, and cultural loss. Protests were especially intense in northeastern states like Assam, where residents were concerned about the impact of migration from Bangladesh.

The conflict in Assam is deeply rooted in the fear of mass migration of people from Bangladesh due to economic pressures and environmental challenges. As climate change and natural disasters increase, Assam’s vulnerability to migration is expected to rise. Historian H.K. Barpujari predicted that the pressures from Bangladesh’s growing population would lead to more migration into Assam, sparking tensions between indigenous and immigrant communities. The challenge is to find a balance ensuring that migrants have a chance at a better life, while respecting and preserving the identities of the indigenous people.

Footage from a news broadcast during the 2019 Assam protests. This was a moment that shaped my understanding of migration, identity, and the urgent need for empathy.

Although we drew inspiration from Assam, India—where I personally witnessed the tensions and protests this is not a story unique to one place. Around the world today, migration is reshaping communities, often triggering fear, discrimination, and conflict.

From the US-Mexico border to refugee movements across Europe and Africa, societies everywhere are grappling with how to balance cultural preservation with humanitarian needs.

In our project, we reimagined a scenario where mutual understanding and empathy could bridge the gap between migrant and indigenous communities, creating a symbiotic relationship built on respect, support, and coexistence.

Our message was simple, but urgent: UNDERSTANDING IS KEY.

- Brainstorming and idea generation -

Warmup Exercise

We started our week with an exercise where we rapidly cut patterns to create a quick design for our group concept in 45 minutes. For our group, this session ended up being more of a practice run, as none of the team members were had prior knowledge in sewing or pattern cutting. Instead, it served as an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with essential skills we might need during the week - such as garment sketching, pattern cutting, taking body measurements, and hand stitching. The focus was less on perfection and more on learning and experimenting with new techniques.

The team familiarizing with essential skills - such as garment sketching, pattern cutting, taking body measurements, and hand stitching.

At this early stage, as we had not finalized a concept yet, we realized we needed some time to research, regroup and come up with a direction for our outfit design.

Deliberating ideas

We started out by sketching out a few designs on paper. Then we physicalized our concept to get a better understanding of how it would work and if it would be successful in delivering the message we want to deliver when the outfit is on the runway.

Deliberating ideas and conceptualizing through sketch and research.

Our initial concept included a design where the outfit would be shared between 3 individuals and the whole garment will be a balancing act where if one person cannot keep the balance the whole outfit will come apart. Writing about it now seems to me like it was in fact a very Cool idea! However, at that point, we were unanimous in the opinion that although it would make a really nice idea for a different concept, maybe it will not as well relate to ours.

Visualizing concepts through lo-fi prototyping.

Sketching out the final concept

For our final outfit design, we took inspiration from the game three-legged race where two people have each of their adjacent legs tied up and they have to hold each other to race against other pairs.

Our finalized concept: After much deliberations, sketching, research and lo-fi prototyping!

This design we believe spoke to our concept the most. Through our design, we wanted to cherish the love and understanding between two people coming from two different lands and help people realize that boundaries are man-made and that this earth has plenty for everyone if we decide to share. Every relationship is and can be a symbiotic relationship, that can benefit everyone including the earth if we are understanding enough.

- Design Process -

Shopping for materials

To start with, we trailed down the lanes of East Street Market on the most exciting hunt for affordable fabrics that we could use for our outfit. We successfully completed our mission as we bargained our way out of the shops with exactly what we wanted.

Hunting for supplies in East Street Market, London

Working on the Design

The outfit had 4 parts in total: the interconnected body piece, the connected pants, the "immigrant's" side of the outfit, and the "local's" side of the outfit. The construction of all the parts was done separately and later the elements were put on the two models to execute the whole look successfully.

1. Making the interconnected body piece:

The first part of the outfit or the base was made with a very elastic stretchy fabric that already came rolled like a giant sock. We were lucky to find a material such as this as the construction of the base then became very simple. We cut out two holes for the neck and a single opening for hands-on on either side. The garment was made in a way such as two people shared the same space on the torso region, and they have to both stand with their arms around the shoulder as there was only a single opening for their hands-on either side.

Behind the scenes: The team working on the first part of the garment together [the base] in the studio.

2. Making the connected pants:

Luck struck us again in the East Street Market as we found two very interesting-looking pants of similar color and texture that would go perfectly with our concept. We cut out the seams on the adjacent legs of the pair from the knee down and hemmed them together. This part closely resembles how two legs near the ankle on either side would be tired during a three-legged race.

Behind the scenes: The team working on the second part of the garment together [the pants] in the studio.

3. Making the "immigrant's" side of the outfit:

We wanted to make this part of the outfit personal to the "immigrant". We wanted it to represent the bare minimum people end up valuing while running away and seeking to refuse another country.

On the mesh fabric, we added small sentimental items, travel documents, pictures of family, and letters of loved ones.

Behind the scenes: Our team collaborating on the 'immigrant' side of the garment in the studio. Marty, one of our teammates, was chosen to model the design during the final showcase, embodying the spirit of resilience and unity we aimed to capture.

4. Making the "local's" side of the outfit:

We wanted to make the "local's" side of the outfit represent materialism and abundance with vivid-rich fabric, a stark contrast to the personal touch that the "immigrant's" side had.

Behind the scenes: Our team bringing the 'local' side of the garment to life in the studio. Regan, one of our teammates, was selected to model the design during the final showcase, embodying the richness, vibrancy, and spirit of the community we sought to represent

Challenge

The process of making the garment was particularly challenging as none of us had prior knowledge of sewing however the process of learning a little bit about outfit-making from each other was fun and we developed a few skills really well, which will come in handy in the future for sure. Our biggest challenge came while we were trying to sew the pants together. Our friend and fashion designer Yanxu came to our rescue and taught us how to use the sewing machine as well as helped me overcome my fear of it.

Pre-presentation prep

We decided to print out a small introduction of our design concept and hand it out to the audience for easier communication and a better understanding of our idea. We also playfully decided to come up with a label for our outfit design, "NOMAD Couture" (an unconventional label that works to fight against immigrant injustice by creating stand-alone activism concept outfits to spread awareness about equality).

Getting ready for presentation day: Taking our performance to the next level by building a speculative brand and designing information pamphlets to bring our story to life.

- Presentation-

For our runway show, we decided to play a clip of the song "Snow Crystal" by Babalos which had an insert of Charlie Chaplin's most famous speech from the great Dictator which goes

"I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…"

See our vision come to life! Watch our models embody the spirit of unity and resilience as they showcase our performative garment on presentation day.

- Evaluation & Feedback -

After the runway show, our prototype was presented by our classmates. The concept for our prototype was very well received. However, there were a few drawbacks to it as well.

After seeing the demonstration the jury came up with the following insights on our design: 1. The garment could have used one more day's work. 2. The music selection was great 3. It was a moment that sparked a sense of emotion and connection which the audience.

4. The fact that we were using cards to give context to our concept was a well-thought-out move.

- Reflection -

This week of the collaborative unit for me has been a great learning experience. I have always wondered to myself what would it be like to work in a fast-paced job in the fashion industry as a designer and this to me felt like living in my fantasy land where I was an actual designer in a team of designers working for the next biggest runway show coming up in a week!

This brief helped me to accumulate a lot of real-life skills that otherwise I would not have picked up, along with expanding my horizons to newer ways of creating an experience through modes of design. Through-out our briefs and this one, in particular, made me realize that an experience does not have to be something you do like a task or something you can touch like an object. It could be something that engages every sense or it could be a mere feeling. An experience could be an event that invokes a response in the presence of what is to be experienced. However real skill lies in communicating an idea perfectly in order to invoke the desired response from the people experiencing it.

- Reference-

1. Barpujari, North East India: Problems, Policies and Prospects, 122.

2. Nandi, A., Luthra, R. and Benzeval, M. (2020). When does hate hurt the most? Generational differences in the association between ethnic and racial harassment, ethnic attachment, and mental health. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(16), 327-347.

3. Safi, M. (2009). Immigrants’ life satisfaction in Europe: Between assimilation and discrimination. European Sociological Review, 26(2), 159-176.

4. Saha, Abhishek (20 January 2019). "Explained: Why Assam, Northeast are angry". The Indian Express.

5. Schmitt, M. T., Branscombe, N. R., Postmes, T., & Garcia, A. (2014). The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: A meta-analytic review. Psychological bulletin, 140(4), 921.

6. Swain, ‘Displacing the Conflict: Environmental Destruction in Bangladesh and Ethnic Conflict in India’.

7. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 (As passed by Lok Sabha), https://www.prsindia.org/sites/default/files/bill_files/Citizenship%20%28A%29%20Bill%2C%202019%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf.