Lauren Mavromati Bourke

RMIT Bachelor of Fashion (Design)

Entanglements Between Bodies & Borders Volume II is inspired by women’s and gender-diverse communities’ resistance following the 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and its ongoing impacts for marginalised communities within Cyprus and beyond. Drawing on these lived bodily experiences and intersecting queer, woman and non-binary gazes, my practice speaks to how patriarchal colonial projects further marginalise gendered and queer bodies, manifesting in complex transgenerational trauma along with transgenerational connection and therapy. By focusing on knit, a textile practice passed down generationally among women to communicate, my garments reflect how transgenerational trauma is expressed through transgenerational cultural practice. Entanglements Between Bodies & Borders Volume II holds a vision for marginalised bodies to move in these pieces, encouraging self-expression through flexible garments that stretch to the body, becoming an extension of the self.

Entanglements Between Bodies & Borders Volume II is inspired by women’s and gender-diverse communities’ resistance following the 1974 Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and its ongoing impacts for marginalised communities within Cyprus and beyond. Drawing on these lived bodily experiences and intersecting queer, woman and non-binary gazes, my practice speaks to how patriarchal colonial projects further marginalise gendered and queer bodies, manifesting in complex transgenerational trauma along with transgenerational connection and therapy. By focusing on knit, a textile practice passed down generationally among women to communicate, my garments reflect how transgenerational trauma is expressed through transgenerational cultural practice. Entanglements Between Bodies & Borders Volume II holds a vision for marginalised bodies to move in these pieces, encouraging self-expression through flexible garments that stretch to the body, becoming an extension of the self.

Collection Title: Entanglements Between Bodies & Borders Volume II 
Photographer: Myles Pedlar 
Models: Mikaelewa Amberber, Kayla Paterson, Irene Mavromati Bourke, Kelly Naughton, Roukaya Hassoun, David Lo Monaco  
Assistant: Carys Norwood 
With a special thank you to Mikaelewa Amberber, Kayla Paterson, my mum Irene and my yiayia for inspiring and supporting this collection.  

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