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- Iryna Poliukhovych
Iryna
Poliukhovych
The Valley of Dry Bones — After Total Destruction
BA Fashion (with Technology)
This collection of 6 looks examines the aftermath of conflict, when survival has taken place and rebuilding starts—not just in a physical sense, but also emotionally and spiritually.
The clothing emerges from a condition of disarray: shattered shapes, dangling threads, visible stitches, and unfinished figures symbolize bodies and fabrics abandoned due to conflict. These initial glimpses act as remnants instead of safeguards, highlighting fragility, absence, and quiet. As the collection develops, elements start to link through apparent repairs, tying, and rebuilding. Repair transforms into a structural process, representing bones uniting and the gradual journey of recovery.
Lightness appears in the collection as a representation of breath and life coming alive again. Light and ethereal fabrics like waxed cotton, muslin, and linen are utilized, allowing for movement, gentle transparency, and ventilation within the clothing. What was once protective and waterproof slowly becomes softer, transforming the meaning from defense to openness. This shift is not just tangible but also procedural: the design process alternates between digital and physical re-creation. Visuals are initially created in a digital format using CLO, enabling exploration of shape, layering, and proportions, and are subsequently transformed into tangible clothing via printed patterns and assembly. This interaction reflects the conceptual progression of the collection—shifting from abstraction and fragmentation to concrete, completed forms—emphasising the notion of reconstruction and renewal.
In this evolution, the collection suggests that softness can be a strength and vulnerability serves as a pathway to peace. Through deconstruction, reuse, and reconstruction, the piece contemplates how clothing—similar to bodies—can endure conflict, be mended, and exist anew without requiring protection. The collection seeks not flawless oblivion, but tranquility that recognizes past suffering.
ROOT MEMORY - DIGITAL ALTERNATIVE COLLECTION
This collection examines the relationship between the human body and concealed natural formations, drawing inspiration from bats, bark of trees, and visible root networks. These references convey a visual language of defense, change, balance, and uneven development. By utilizing sculptural shapes and amplified designs, the clothing transforms nature into fashion that resembles architecture.
The collection drew inspiration from bats, their wing designs, folded membranes, and sense of motion. These characteristics manifest as bold forms, pointed protrusions, and striking folds. Tree bark inspired concepts of guarding outer layers, coarse textures, and stratified surfaces, reflected in the armor-like shapes and defined outlines. Root structures affected the internal design of the clothes, featuring branching lines and forms that seem to emerge naturally from the body.
A contrast between symmetry and irregularity runs throughout the collection. Certain appearances seem balanced and composed, whereas others stretch and warp erratically, illustrating the conflict between nature’s order and untamed expansion. The colour scheme reinforces this story: rich red implies instinct and energy, black introduces darkness and enigma, while blue and green allude to nature and organic settings.
This set was generated through artificial intelligence during the design process. AI served as a creative instrument to advance experimental silhouettes, aiding in the conversion of research into striking wearable designs. Instead of substituting creativity, the technology facilitated innovative methods for structure, and profession finishes.
In the end, the collection showcases fashion as a blend—half body, half nature, and half machine. It encourages the audience to view garments not merely as adornment, but as a safeguarding framework influenced by instinct, surroundings, and change.
Work Placement – Original Ireland – Limerick
THE DESERT AS PURIFICATION - COLONII
This collection explores the desert as a space of purification and transformation, inspired by nomadic lifestyles and spiritual journeys of endurance and revelation. Beginning with heavy, layered garments that symbolize the burdens we carry, the silhouettes gradually release weight through wrapping, draping, and softening fabrics. Influenced by Bedouin clothing, camel caravans, and the necessity of survival in arid landscapes, the designs reflect a process of letting go — moving from structure to fluidity. The final looks emerge in the softest materials, representing a purified body and mind, reduced to essential form and harmony with the environment.