WHATEVER THE F**K WE WANT

DESCRIPTION

A beautifully crafted wearable sculpture/bag made from rose hand-boarded Madras vegetable tanned goatskin and is embellished with a digital printed orchid and a detachable ‘jacket’ that features two-tone lambskin fringe detailing, with one side fashioned in lipstick red and the other in rose. The bag is also adorned with a pair of hand-polished, mirror-finished 316L stainless steel ‘hands’ in the form of a Morningstar -a signature emblem of the iCONS+ series.

The bag is secured with a smooth Raccagni silver-tone zipper and comes with a pocket with an invisible magnetic closure at the front. The interior of the bag is fully lined in electric blue recycled cotton twill and has a small goatskin patch pocket. The artisan mark “E” and year of production mark “A” are stamped on the back of the right zipper stopper.

The bag is versatile and can be worn as a crossbody or shoulder bag with a single shoulder strap, or as a backpack with double shoulder straps. Alternatively, it can also be displayed as a beautiful art object.

MORE DETAILS

H20 x W14 x D10 cm (8” x 5.5” x 4”)
Exterior: 100% Hand-boarded Madras goatskin
Interior: One goatskin patch pocket
100% Recycled cotton twill lining
Front flap pocket with magnetic closure
Two adjustable shoulder straps
Removable orchid charm
Removable jacket
Hand-polished mirror finished 316L stainless steel hardware
Required 55 hours for one artisan to make
Cross-body, shoulder bag and backpack
Can also be displayed as an art object
Individually handmade in China
Reference No. CX23U0104008

STORY

Whatever the Fuck We Want was created as a tribute to feminist heroines, past and present, including artists and writers. The goal is to raise awareness and promote a conversation about feminism's place in society, where women's interests have historically been devalued and their artistic aspirations downplayed.

But what is feminism? According to the international Women’s Development Agency (IWDA), feminism is “about all genders having equal rights and opportunities. It’s about respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledge and strengths, and striving to empower all women to realize their full rights. It’s about leveling the playing field between genders, and ensuring that diverse women and girls have the same opportunities in life available to boys and men.” Feminism is not about hating men, being better than men, or eschewing femininity.

Throughout the history of feminism, women have used fashion to highlight gender inequality and define their own identities. Fashion has been heavily influenced by this movement. As someone who majored in fashion design, I looked to history for inspiration to express my own perspectives on this subject matter. I was particularly drawn to Maria Grazia Chiuri's slogan T-shirt "We should all be feminists" from her 2016 debut collection for Christian Dior, which was a tribute to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's essay on the future of feminism.

The conical-stitched corset details on Whatever the Fuck We Want are directly inspired by the iconic Jean Paul Gaultier pink satin corset/bra that Madonna wore for the first time on April 13, 1990, in Chiba, Japan, for the opening night performance of her Blond Ambition World Tour, which has since become an image of pop culture ubiquity.

Corsetry has historically signified both beauty and oppression. No other garment has so radically (or sadistically?) reshaped the female body or encapsulated the history of women’s dress as succinctly as the corset. It was conjured up by men to give a woman a silhouette that appealed to men's ideals. There’s no question of the sexual and the social inequality that the corset symbolizes. As Alexander Fury of the New York Times put it “…the reduction of the waist persistently reflects a reductive view of femininity, limited to a va-va-voom outline.”

Despite the dichotomy of power and restraint surrounding the female body, the corset has evolved esthetically and symbolically. It has moved from underwear to outerwear, from corsets to bustiers, from constriction to power. Today, wearing a corset can symbolize empowerment, sexual freedom, and control. Feminism has also evolved. “Feminism today is shaped less by a shared struggle against oppression than by a collective embrace of individual freedoms, concerned less with targeting narrowly defined enemies than with broadening feminism’s reach through inclusiveness, and held together not by a handful of national organizations and charismatic leaders but by the invisible bonds of the Internet and social media.” (Sheinin, Dave, et al. “Betty Friedan to Beyoncé: Today’s generation embraces feminism on its own terms.” The Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2016)

Feminism is still contested and controversial in many parts of the world, but we should all participate in spreading the ideas and moving forward. Wearing a corset or not, women should hold the laces and embrace feminism on their own terms. They should be able to wear whatever the fuck they want.

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