Feature; Rashiiid

This month, we caught up with the super talented Rachel Maguire, better known by @Rashhiiid on Instagram. We spoke to her about all things #RepurposedbyRashhiiid, sustainable garment construction, the intersection of clothing and sexuality, and the highlight of her journey in design so far.

Grace: Some of the pictures on your Instagram are a tad risqué. When you are designing your pieces do you design with expression of sexuality in mind or for shock value? Or both?

Rachel: I would have to say neither of those come into play, neither come into my mind when I am designing. I’m not afraid of sexuality, and I’m not afraid of my own sexuality so I guess that comes through when I’m designing or styling. A writer Martin McCann once told me “If you want to write something worth reading write from the heart, never write with the audience in mind” and I think that applies to a lot of things in life. I’m not thinking of how it’s going to be looked at.

Grace: Has gaining so much exposure on social media given you more confidence in yourself?

Rachel: No. It’s all fake. I don’t believe that any of that truly matters. The people that follow me go home to their struggles, their reality, they go to bed at night with their thoughts, and I go to bed with mine. They may follow me, but they don’t care. And, rightly so, they care about their friends, their boyfriends, their family like I do mine. We meet somewhere in this weird place in the middle and it’s beautiful, but I try not to think about it too much.

Some of my closest friends don’t use Instagram, they have it but they’ve zero posts and I envy them. It’s definitely something that I’ve struggled with because I’m so aware of the negative sides of social media, but I’m equally as aware of the benefits of it for my choice of career. It’s such a negative space. I just have to balance using it by not actually caring about it at all.

Grace: You have such an innovative approach to personal style and it seems to come so organically to you. Where did your passion for styling yourself spring from?

Rachel: I definitely gain inspiration from everywhere I go and everything I see. Travelling is huge for me, what people wear in other countries, that’s probably my biggest inspiration.

I take that with me when I come home, when I travel I stock up on vintage and charity shopping. I’d like to think that I don’t follow trends, but I think we all do. It’s impossible not to be influenced by what’s around us, so I think that we are all influenced by trends. Whether you go against the trend, or you stay with the trend you’re still being influenced by the trend, whether or not you choose to conform to it or not - it’s still dictating how you dress. For me, it’s so much more powerful to be inspired by something I see in real life than in an Instagram post, or online so I definitely have my eyes wide open every time I leave the house.

Grace: We at Fashion Soc have loved your recent magazine shoot with MobJournal and adored the pieces. Can people order them yet? Do you have a website?

Rachel: No. Right now I’m just focusing on learning as much as I can in college, and getting as good at constructing my craft as I can. I don’t want to put things out there yet. I’m still learning, I’m still experimenting, I don’t know who I am as a designer or what I want to say so I’m just documenting the process right now.

Grace: I noticed with the MobJournal shoot, you used all models of colour.

Was that choice made because of the current climate or perchance?

Rachel: With the MobJournal shoot, I was asked by the stylist Oyin that was hired for the shoot to use my clothes. I wasn’t actually a part of the organising of the shoot but I was very excited to be a part of it! To answer that question, I feel like the current climate has made me realise the necessity of being actively inclusive with my designs and my shoots or whatever it may be, rather than just passively inclusive. So before maybe I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to be but moving forward I will. I’m going to be really conscious of it.

Grace: Do you ever regret choosing a fashion design degree, seeing as it’s so hard to ‘make it’ and even harder to make it big with a conscious fashion brand?

Rachel: That’s something I often think about but in terms of ‘making it’, I think that’s a subjective question. I know exactly what you mean, but in my view, I feel that because I was lost for so long that I am just grateful to have found something that brings me joy right now, and if it brings other people joy in the future, then obviously all the better. I think once you do find your passion it will naturally snowball, if I love to do it I’ll be putting the work in.

Grace: Do you ever wonder that you will find it harder to become a big fashion brand because of the limitations your brand values can have? If that’s even something you want for the future?

Rachel: Regret it, never. I can’t imagine doing something else, I’ll figure it out. It’s often a question I ask myself. But I’m never going to change my brand values because of it. If I can make clothes that don’t harm the environment, that’s amazing, so I definitely want to stick to that. Right now, my mind gravitates towards the present so I don’t think about it much. Maybe I should, but despite all of this manifestation and whatever, I really just stay in the present, my mind is much happier there. I don’t put much energy into things that I can’t control, or even reach.

Grace: Where did your passion for designing and repurposing materials spring from? What led you to repurposing materials and why was it something so important to you?

Rachel: I just thought it was much more fulfilling. Something didn’t sit right with me going into the fabric shop and just pointing my finger and finding the most beautiful colour and the most perfect type of fabric for my design. Everything was too perfect. I was like “Hold on, I have a room full of bags of clothes and I have almost a landfill site in my garage. Why not just set a little challenge and try to make this skirt I’ve designed out of this old dress?”. It’s so much better for the environment and it felt a lot more satisfying.

Grace: Something that really struck me about one of your posts was when you said “We have to have a relationship with our clothing”. I thought that was a really nice way of phrasing it. Can you talk to me a bit more about that idea?

Rachel: I think as humans we crave a connection with everything and that’s something that’s been lost through fast fashion. I think the more I connect with my clothes, and remember who sold it to me and where exactly I got it, for example connecting it to different experiences or countries definitely makes me appreciate it more and enjoy getting dressed every morning. It can allow you to feel like the best dressed person in the room. It can’t be cheap, disposable fashion to feel that way.

Grace: I’ve seen on your social media that you’ve been to a wide range of different countries and experienced a diverse range of cultures. To what extent do you feel travel has influenced your design aesthetic?

Rachel: Well, hugely. The last two places I was before I decided on designing my final collection were Japan and Morocco, not close together in time but they were the last places, and in both places they cover up a lot of their skin. Japan in the sense that a lot of them were wearing masks, and they were wearing very long, loose clothing. In Morocco, a lot of people are entirely covered up, a lot of the women. I think that in Ireland we wear really tight things, no matter what shape we are, no matter what size, we all want to wear tight things and often it can be much more flattering wearing things that are more modest - but I can’t really talk.

I think that the modesty of Japan and Morocco really struck a chord with me and I designed my first collection on invisibility.

Grace: Was there a particular experience in Japan or Morocco that carried this theme through your collection, or even further?

Rachel: I was intrigued by why the women were entirely covered up in Morocco. I couldn’t just walk through the streets and not wonder why? I’m quite curious. I didn’t want to just walk down the street and not look into it further. I was making eye contact with these women and I was like “What are they thinking? Are they jealous or are they judgmental of me? How do they perceive how I am dressed?” I started talking to women in the hotel I was staying at “Why do you dress this way?” Because initially in my ignorance, I saw it as them being trapped. Whereas when I started to speak with the women, I realised that it was my ignorance because they said it was their choice. That they were free from the limitations of society and the pressures of appearance. They were saying that they were liberated, that it was nothing to do with their husband or their religion. They truly believed that what was inside their minds was more important than what they were wearing, and covering up took the focus away from anything else. It’s beautiful. And it doesn’t go for every woman there, I only spoke to a handful of women, it will depend on the person and on the country. But it was just interesting and thought provoking to prove my theories wrong. So that is why my whole project and the artwork behind it was based on looking into the different cultures.

Grace: What is the most memorable piece or collection you’ve designed, for better or for worse, and why?

Rachel: Definitely the orange jacket that was made out of an old feather duvet, it was most memorable because my teachers and the principal were like “This cannot work”, “You cannot make a jacket out of an old duvet”, you know especially with the feathers. We all left everyday with feathers in our eyes, nose and mouthes - so it was overcoming those limitations that made it really amazing for me. And the length of time, it took two and a half months because of dragging an entire duvet through a little sewing machine. I had to hoover my whole college at the end of everyday, so yeah just overcoming that. It paid off in the end, I stuck at it, it took a lot of time, and it took time out of my next designs - I had to simplify them, but it was worth it.

Grace: And is it something you wear a lot?

Rachel: Never worn before. I mean when something takes you over two months to make… People have asked to buy it but I can’t bring myself to part with it or price it y’know, it’s kind of something that I want to have forever.

Grace: How much do you feel fashion and sexuality intersects for you?

Rachel: I think that everybody likes to feel sexy. It can almost be addictive to feel sexy, because it’s an extra level of adrenaline. It’s not something that’s very conscious in me, it’s just something that I’ve gravitated towards because it feels good. But for example I only ever think of it when I’m putting up a post and I know my dad and my mum are going to see it and I realise at that moment how sexual or revealing something may be. It’s really only at that moment when I’m about to post it that I’m like “Oh shit my dad’s gonna see this”. I see it through their eyes and then I realise how sexual it is.

Before my fashion course it was never something that I tapped into online. I was always very comfortable about it in real life. As I said I’m not afraid of it. One of my favourite topics of conversation is sex, but it wasn’t something I portrayed through my social media before, because why would I? It was when I was doing my designing that I really realised that It’s kind of part of me. But I don’t feel like “Oh my god my designs are so sexy”. It’s just that when I was putting more things online, and people would say it to me, I realised it was how I was portrayed. But to me it’s just normal not a goal.

Grace: Do you think a fashion design degree is relevant anymore as recently we’ve seen a rise in “mood-board designers” who are creative but lack the technical skills of a designer?

Rachel: I haven’t actually heard of the term “mood-board designers” but I can guess what it means. Let me put it like this - the industry can survive without mood-board designers, but it can’t survive without the technical designers. I think there will always be a relevance for the skill of constructing clothing. It gives you a deeper insight into how you want to design or how you want to translate your fashion, because you know it inside out.

You know what you want and you will know the quickest way to get there, or the most comfortable way to construct it so yes I think it’s very important.

Grace: Sustainability and ethical fashion are at the helm of your brand - how do you manage to keep up with a market that still hasn’t shifted from the consumerism mindset in Ireland?

Rachel: I am aware that that will be my biggest challenge, but I’m still just learning. I’m in the very early stages and I still don’t even know what it is that I want to do yet. So I’m just focusing on getting as much as I can out of the skilled teachers here in the Grafton Academy, they are amazing so I’m literally trying to suck as much information out of them while I can, and then I’m out into the big bad world. That is going to be one of the biggest challenges but right now I’m not stressing over things I don’t need to yet.

Grace: You said sexuality inspires your…well, you’re not afraid of sexuality and that it can just naturally creep into some of your posts and your designs. Does sexuality inspire your collections and your pieces?

Rachel: It might creep in but like I said it definitely isn’t the goal and I think that almost the most sexy outfits are the most modest and the most covered up like in Japan these women are incredibly sexy and they’re wearing baggy t-shirts and baggy trousers. And I know speaking with some of my guy friends they find the most sexy woman in the room is wearing androgynous clothes. It’s the curiosity of what’s underneath that is more enticing, rather than it all just being out in the open. So I think y’know sometimes the more fabric the better. I think it depends on the day, it depends on your mood, so I do a bit of both.

Grace: Are there any other elements that come to you really naturally that people have commented on about your designs online that maybe you haven’t consciously realised? Aspects of your personality that shine through naturally in your clothing?

Rachel: Well, you tell me. What does my personality come across as online? Because I don’t know how I am perceived. Do you get any indication of my personality online? Or just another sustainable fashion account?

Grace: No, I do feel like there’s an essence there! You seem very adventurous, fun, flirty and kind of just up for the craic like. Also, a bit wild. A lot of your clothes are very colourful so just a really vibrant, strong personality, that’s just what I get from it, loud.

Grace: Do you feel like from designing and being at the Grafton Academy of Fashion Design that they have allowed you to express yourself more? Do you feel like maybe in school or when you were a bit younger you didn’t feel as confident expressing those opinions or the more controversial side that you have now? Has design given you an outlet for expressing your personality?

Rachel: It’s a very good question. But no. I was more wild when I was younger. In college it’s sometimes like “Relax Rachel”, “Don’t be adding all those panels” you know. They’re not trying to dim me down or anything. But when something is the wildest in the room I feel a different way about it than I would if I were in a room where everyone else’s designs were wild too, I’d go a step further. If people around me, have designs that are abstract with mad colours, naturally I’m going to be inspired by that environment and bounce off them. But if you’re the wildest in the room and everyone’s looking at you like “Jesus” - naturally then you’ll be like “Oh god I won’t add another…” y’know? I think that we are deeply inspired by our environment and I’ve yet to find the right place to express myself fully.

Grace: Do you think the sustainable fashion and ethical design movement ethos will ever gain enough momentum to challenge mainstream fashion brands? To the point where it’s on a par with them or it overtakes them?

Rachel: It’s a necessity so I think it very much will. Brands are already starting to shut their doors. The consumers are the deciders. Without us, they don’t have anything.

We vote everyday with our money. That’s how things change, from us not them.

So slowly but surely people are caring more, there’s more awareness, there’s more documentaries, and there’s more urgency. I think that’s the direction it’s going in. So they either change to suit us or they will not succeed.

Grace: I wanted to ask you about your new collection. What has inspired the new collection and do you have a name for it? Talk to us.

Rachel: So yeah, my new collection -I don’t have a name for it like my last one being “Invisibility is a Superpower” but it’s inspired by a Japanese outlook on life dating back to before the 14th century called “Wabi-Sabi” and it basically is an outlook on life that’s about treasuring imperfections.

It’s saying that things age, things rust, things never finish. When you buy something it isn’t finished, the perfect newness of it is only the beginning and it evolves and it ages and it rusts and it breaks apart. That is beautiful too, and that we must see the beauty in the imperfections and not just fixate on something being new and perfect. I think it’s definitely something that I have lived by for a while now. That’s inspiring my collection. I’m using recycled denim with a mix of other recycled materials.

Grace: And why did you choose denim for the material you wanted to use?

Rachel: Mainly because I can’t stop using orange and browns and all that, I need to force myself to stop! I don’t really like denim, but I have so much of it, so many jeans, dungarees etc. I literally have a landfill site in my garage and I have a huge box of denim. It’s hardwearing, it’s long lasting and it’s woven. It’s really interesting; In Japan they have this belief of never throwing out denim, separate to the “Wabi-sabi” thing. You pass your denim through generations, repair them and it’s worn in different ways. Like when you first buy denim it’s almost uncomfortable, and then it almost moulds to your body so it ties in with the beauty of the imperfections and the ageing process. I think maybe it’ll be called “Treasuring Imperfections”. Yeah… that’s the name!

You can follow Rachel on Instagram @Rashhiiid and keep up with her latest designs.