INOCHI

Together with my team I want to achieve the biggest project I have ever done. As a hairstylist I want to go above and beyond and create 5 complete and different looks out of hair. Yes the clothing too! With as a result :

Photoshoot images
A fashion video
Canvasses as art pieces, one per theme
Publications in magazines
Go viral with our video
A vernissage showcasing all the work that we accomplished with this project

WHY INOCHI?
INOCHI has four meanings.
The first meaning is the mysterious power or energy that keeps creatures and humans alive.
The second meaning of INOCHI points to the period between birth and death, or the state of being alive.
The third meaning is ‘the most essential part’ of an object. For example, ‘to take away something’s INOCHI’ does not mean to kill it, but to take away its most important and essential quality …
The last meaning of INOCHI is eternal life.

THE CONCEPT
"INOCHI" signifies life, and the most important things in your life. This project, unlike OPIATE, is very personal. Even though I am only 25 years old, I felt I wanted to express my life's journey in a fashion project. This journey is divided into five parts, and every look will have a different model portraying that period. The couture they wear will be a collaboration between myself and Ariadna Mladen, a Romanian designer. Together, we want to create garments and accessories completely made out of hair. With each look, I will also create a piece of art using hair on canvas.

I. THE CHILD
This signifies my childhood. I was a quirky child, a bit alienated from everyone and with my head in the clouds. I was always either reading Harry Potter books or drawing my own magical characters. The look will be a red and white striped bathing suit, and a head of hair shaped like sunshine. As for the design, the influence is Betsey Johnson.

II. THE PUNK
As a young teenager, I discovered punk and heavy metal, and this is still a big part of my life. I became a rebel, started to dye and cut my own hair. The look will be inspired by Vivienne Westwood and 70s and 80s punk looks. The main piece of this look will be a "leather" jacket made out of hair.

III. THE DISEASE
During puberty, I survived three depressions. The worst one was when I was 14 years old. I became suicidal and refused to go to school anymore. I was taken into the hospital for one and a half year. The look of this one was the hardest to put on paper. How do you draw depression? It's so different for everyone. I saw lots of different versions in other art, but none of them spoke to me.

My creative directors for this project, Nils and My Fragility, helped me tremendously in putting my feelings from this period on paper. The result is haunting to me; a body constricted with hair, and hair clusters on the heart, mouth and nose. Alexander McQueen is a big inspiration for this look.

IV. THE LOVER
At age 18, I became homeless and lost my best friend to cancer. A third depression lured and nearly pulled me in, but at that time I met the love of my life, with whom I have been living for seven years now. This love changed my life enormously; I first discovered my sexuality as a woman, after feeling like a boy for 18 years. I regained my self worth and found the strength to claw myself out of the depression to live a life I want to live. Despite this self-discovery of womanhood, I still felt like a man in drag sometimes. Therefore, the model for this look will be a muscular drag-queen in lingerie inspired by Jean Paul Gauthier. I have always felt like I floated between genders, and this image will signify that whatever gender you feel like, you can still be sensual and enjoy love in your own way

V. THE ARTIST
After climbing out of a rough puberty and falling head over heels in love, I found that I lost sense of who I really was. My next journey began: What was my passion? Who did I want to be? What legacy did I want to leave in this world?

Hair became this passion. It is, besides my friends and family, my purpose and greatest love in life. This image signifies me blossoming as an artist and finally finding my love and passion. Therefore, the look will be an explosion of color and different textures, signifying individualism, inspiration, and true happiness.

The Inochi Project

The Inochi Project