Love and war: the weaponised woman

Two outfits (White Stealth Look no. 1 and Beetle Corset) that Broach and Kirby had originally designed for Boudicca’s readyto- wear collections were invited to a museum exhibition on the theme of the weaponised woman curated by Dr Valerie Steele. Co-exhibitors included Azzedine Alaia, Paco Rabanne, John Galliano.

Love and War was the first museum exhibition to explore the influence on fashion of both “intimate apparel” and military “body armour.” Many of the biggest names of the fashion world were represented alongside Boudicca, including Azzedine Alaia, Comme des Garçons, Galliano for Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Lost Art, Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler, Maggie Norris, Zac Posen, Prada, Paco Rabanne.

White Stealth Look no 1 invokes the modern warrior woman, alluding to the stealth bomber plane, but adding embroidered details to the skirt. Beetle Corset references the native American ghost dancer combined with 1920s baseball outfits. The references are always diverse and eclectic, drawing together classical forms and contemporary resonances. Both outfits involved rigorous research into techniques, fibres, and art and design history and draw on Boudicca’s prolific design practice. The outfits can be seen in the context of these collections online:

i) White Stealth – An Invisible City show

http://www.platform13.com/pages/history/invisible_content.html

ii) Beetle corset – The Beautiful and the Insane show

http://www.platform13.com/pages/history/beaut_insane1.html

Zowie Broach and Brian Kirby work as a duo, collaborating on all aspects of the research and creative process. Broach and Kirby (as Boudicca) made a presentation at the academic symposium at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, which accompanied the exhibition. They were also interviewed by Marketa Uhlirova for a special issue of Fashion Theory: Journal of Dress Body and Culture, (Vol 10, No 4) which included images of their work (pp 407-430). Boudicca’s White Stealth Look no. 1 was one of the key images used to promote the museum exhibition on publicity, brochure and website, and the outfit was subsequently bought for the permanent collections of both the MFIT and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.