At the beginning of my exploration I had 2 clear areas which I wanted to research, the Mughal era of India and Minimalistic/Avant-Garde styles, in these folio pages I began stating what intrigued me towards them and visualizing the aspects I loved through mood boards! I chose to take a risk by adding underboob to the design to challenge the values of the Indian and Western society as it is controversial. My personal aesthetic is heavily influenced by my Indian culture while I call it more of a cultural clash as I grew up in a western country I was exposed to ideas of two cultures which merged together to create my design style of the present, which I would describe as minimalistic, rich, sophisticated and sexy.

 

There was a period of time in Indian where sexuality was embraced, and body positivity was promoted evident in the Mughal paintings and sculptures where women are seen bare-breasted or with sheer fabrics. This sense of body positivity needs to be resurrected into society. No need to hide or cover body parts due to societies belief that it may arouse or be offensive, repressing body confidence only sexualizes the female form more in a negative what rather than being able to love and appreciate it, it fuels the fire to define women as sexual objects.

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