courage behind the mask. “never mind the gap” by daria egay

Name and surname: Daria Egay course: Fashion Styling · three year course · undergraduate school: London School of Fashion nationality: Russia   Daria Egay, young creative talent originally from Russia, graduated in Art and Design from Cambridge University and then moved to London, where she is currently attending the Fashion Styling course at Istituto Marangoni School of Fashion. “Never Mind The Gap” is a curricular project imbued with strong symbolic references. It concerns a fashion editorial where she shows her natural inclination for investigating the cultural and psychological aspects that lead people towards attitudes that do not represent them completely, or do not emphasize their true nature. Is it because they are afraid to be judged or because they aren’t that confident in themselves that people don’t wear what they want? Daria’s concept starts from this question.  By covering model’s faces with animals’ masks, the participant showed that people can dress as they want to dress without worrying what others may think. The fashion editorial was taken in typically crowded urban environments, such as city parks or underground stations; the model’s outfits are deliberately oversized and colours, green, yellow, shocking pink, are intense and vibrant, exactly like the fashion statement of the protagonist, who show bizarre poses and attitudes, which are in fact legitimately natural. Animals’ masks were chosen in order to underline the fact that, although concealing appearance, the existence of a personality and a soul remain undisputable, just as for animals. ‘Never Mind the Gap’ is a brave attempt to fill imaginary gaps, an anthem to personal fulfilment beyond any prejudice.