Arianne Wortel

Arianne Wortel

Collection
SYNCHRONIZING WITH NATURE'S FLUCTUATIONS

a web of understanding

binds and unravels



relinquishing our desire to tame sustains a


mystical confection
Mystical Confection is a thesis collection that draws from a deep fascination with nature’s strange patterns, relating these rhythms to our fluctuating relationship with meaning. Inspired by the meditative geometry of pufferfish sand structures, the layered mysticism of Mayan culture, and existential themes of the 2006 film Reprise by Joachim Trier, the collection visualizes the gauzy fluidity of meaning. As our desire to emulate purpose through tasks, worship, and devotion of time, we become a chef of this meaning that culminates in a mystical confection.The collection imagines what the chef of a mystical confection might wear as an architect of meaning, exaggerating the protective elements of a chef uniform to reflect the nesting and protective behaviors of birds and sea life.
Image: lineup
Image: process
Image: process
Image: process: sketching
Image: process: visual research on confections and mysticism
Image: Aran wearing the Sea Angel Nest Confectioner look
Image: process
Image: detail: armadillo jacket, knit top with felted corset mechanism at back, and stretch leather swim cap in seafoam
Image: detail: chocolate molded leather belt and hat, felted and patchwork sea angel jacket
Image: detail: stingray cape in white ostrich leather and batfish top in iridescent seafoam organza felted on wool

Bio

Influenced strongly by color, materiality and the curiosity they evoke, Arianne imagines garments as an environment—alive, strange, and unbound by convention. Through this lens she expands the notion of wearability by eluding traditional boundaries of gender and formality. The meditative quality of draping manifests through unusual garment construction, forming armor-like silhouettes while maintaining the softness of the wearer. Influenced by real and imagined characters, Arianne’s designs are imbued with narrative, inviting the wearer into a land of playful symbolism. She invites curiosity through a seductive range of colors and tactility of textiles, while drawing on the groundedness of the body’s form and the natural world.

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