“You’ll grow into it”: Designer Bryanah D’costa explores identity through oversized silhouettes
photography by Chrissy Dore
as told to daisy henry
“To say a collection is a part of you is an understatement.”
Bryanah D’costa didn’t grow up dreaming of a career in fashion. On the contrary, the revelation hit one day while in the car with her mum. Within two weeks, she had dropped out of her Bachelor of Education and had interviews lined up at design schools. “The generic answer is that I’ve always loved to dress up and always knew what I wanted to do, but truthfully, I had no clue, until that day,” she says.
Now, having graduated from LCI’s Bachelor of Design Arts, Bryanah is one of 12 graduate designers handpicked to present her collection, ‘You’ll grow into it’, at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival. An enormous achievement, it wasn’t something she had given herself the space to imagine. “I never expected to be here when I left school,” she says.
For more fashion news, shoots, articles and features, head to our Fashion section.
“The only word that comes to mind is mess,” Bryanah tells me, when asked to describe the collection. “It’s something I’ve been told about how I work, how I deconstruct things, how I draw and how I create, but I think it’s a key player in how my message is conveyed. Life is messy and non-linear; we experience things, we make mistakes, we try again.”
The resulting six-look collection takes the idea of “growing into something” and flips it on its head. Having long been told she’ll grow into it – whether that’s a jacket that’s too big or a culture she’s expected to assimilate into – Bryanah’s deliberately oversized silhouettes reject the expectation of shrinking to fit in.
You can see Bryanah’s work on display next week at the National Graduate Showcase, held at the Royal Exhibition Building on February 24. It’s always an exciting glimpse into the future of the Australian industry, and Fashion Journal is proud to be a long-time media partner of the event.
View this post on Instagram
Fashion Journal: Tell us a bit about how you got started in fashion. Did you always want to be a designer?
Bryanah: In the back of a car coming back from a family trip to Sydney, I turned to my mum and said, “I like clothes, I need to do something with that”. So, at the last minute, I dropped out of my Bachelor of Education after just a year to pursue fashion. It all happened in a matter of two weeks.
The generic answer is that I’ve always loved to dress up and always knew what I wanted to do, but truthfully, I had no clue, until that day.
Tell me about the collection you’re showing for the National Graduate Showcase. What was your inspiration?
My collection, ‘You’ll grow into it’, is derived from the feeling of existing in a liminal space – as a child, as the shortest and youngest, and possibly the only Indian person there on the first day of school. It’s about being given a jacket three sizes too big and hearing, “Don’t worry, you’ll grow into it,” even though I never physically did.
It’s in this way that immigrant children are made to feel as if they need to culturally assimilate. Instead, this notion of oversized clothing for me, like many, had become a token of identity.
With groundroots in the Jugaad Method, originating from small colonies in India, each garment incorporates thrifted, deadstock and discarded materials. Thoughtfully curated, deconstructed and reassembled, it was an act of hand stitching what home looks like to me, fragmented but whole.
The leather symbolises the skin’s ability to reconstruct itself when the body feels uninhabitable, the Kodachrome slides symbolise memories, and the dhoti pants symbolise the journey — oceans which have the capacity to connect and, ironically, divide society from one another. This collection works to flip the narrative, asking: What if, instead of seeing my struggle, you saw the emotion that comes when you deem me the “other,” the “stranger,” the “alien”? What might you see then?
View this post on Instagram
What has the process of creating your collection been like?
Overwhelming. Overwhelming in joy, in growth, in pitfalls and in love. My garments have a longer process than just design, sew and fit. The curation itself takes days and can be frustrating, especially when my materials are all unique and have different textures.
However, this part of my practice is hugely important as a sustainable designer. It has allowed me to meet so many interesting and wonderful people on this journey, from a man who sold me ex-skydiving parachutes on a rainy Saturday morning to the lady at the bowling alley who helped supply me with shoes.
What’s the best and worst part of being a fashion student?
Everything moves so fast. A major part of being a creative is being emotional. Sitting alongside your peers and seeing them go through their highs and lows can make you so close to people who have lived vastly different lives from yours.
Being a fashion student makes you more vulnerable because when you are so passionate about your work, there never seems to be enough time to step back and look at what you are producing.
How would you describe your collection to someone who’s never seen it before?
The only word that comes to mind is mess. It is something I’ve been told about how I work, how I deconstruct things, how I draw and how I create, but I think it’s a key player in how my message is conveyed. Life is messy and non-linear; we experience things, we make mistakes, we try again.
My collection isn’t intended to be six bodies of fully realised haute couture gowns; it’s a story. It merges silhouettes, materials and fastenings to generate a line of oversized streetwear, with schoolboy elements and fragments of things people would recognise in their own lives, from moving bags, leather handbags and number plates.
View this post on Instagram
What are you most proud of in your work so far?
That it has taken shape at all. I never expected to be here when I left school. Being able to merge my poetry and fashion like this is genuinely so crazy. To say a collection is a part of you is an understatement.
This collection has been my life for the last year and seeing it be embraced the way it has been by people I have never met is so touching. That is something I will always take with me as a designer – the stories I get told from strangers who trust in me because of how my work makes them feel. It’s an entirely new experience to have my pieces make people feel safe.
What do you wish you knew when you started on your collection?
You need a heavy-duty needle to sew through leather.
Who is exciting you the most in local fashion right now?
I love Phoebe Clark, one of my peers at LCI and the designer behind Gritty Noun, who is an upcoming fashion and costume couture designer. Gritty Noun’s work has so many layers, with sustainability, strength and fragility. She has been a mentor to me in helping me understand my own voice and be brave enough to share it. Her pieces are one-of-a-kind, highly researched garments that each hold their own story.
View this post on Instagram
What about the local fashion industry needs to change?
Representation and cultural awareness in clothing. In fashion, we have become so used to this idea of taking garment archetypes, silhouettes and historical pieces and transforming them into something new without understanding where they come from or if they may hold cultural significance.
This is not specific to Australian brands, I believe it’s a wider issue, and has only recently come to light, thanks to social media platforms allowing greater discourse.
Where do you hope to be in the next five years?
I have no idea what I want to eat for lunch tomorrow, let alone what I want to be doing five years from now. If I had to speculate, I would say I hope to be doing something meaningful, whether it’s in the fashion space as a designer or stylist, or if it’s writing more, or picking up a photography course. I hope I can continue to tell stories and be an advocate for good in whatever space I end up pursuing.
If you could land a paid internship with any designer in the world, who would it be and why?
Right now, I would say Thom Browne. I think that would shock a few people, considering what I create, however, my work plays into some of the silhouettes and prints he uses. The way he plays with poetry and movement on the runway is like nothing else. His shows are not only performance art but also hold gravity. It would be an honour to learn how he shapes his narratives.
Get your tickets to the NGS Showcase at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival here.
Liked this? You’ll love these...
