When introduced to the topic of this project (sports garments and their relationship with bodies) I immediately thought of exploring the struggles of transgender athletes. Our bodies are policed (quite literally in America) and repeatedly banned from participating in competitive sports. I was interested in the strength of trans athletes and their fight to be seen as acceptable bodies in the sports world. I chose three trans/gender non conforming figures to embody the strength of trans bodies: Quinn, a olympic football player, the first openly trans olympic medalist, Caeneus a Greek hero who transitions through divine intervention, and Jeanne d’Arc a soldier who would not compromise her sense of self after she gave so much for her country. 

Inspired by ancient greek garments I chose to focus on draping geometric shapes that I then combined with modern textiles and sports finishes to further incorporate my football archetypes. I also wanted to modernize my silhouettes bringing a youthful and playful energy to the more classic draped garments as well as stressing the gender neutral shapes of ancient garments. Most of my final outcome was a product of draping and playing with the shapes of my pattern pieces as well as the scale of the garments.