New Order of Fashion

The work of BODIL OUEDRAOGO is informed by the connections she finds after thoroughly examining different cultural aspects that at first glance seem to be far apart. How can a connection between diverse styles enrich and uplift one another? What drives her is not simply choosing one or the other, but finding a way in which they can complement each other and therefore creating unfamiliar styles. Over the years her interests became more personal. her father is from Burkina-Faso and her mother from the Netherlands. The main connection she was looking for was one that united her bi-cultural identity.

For her internship at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, she went to Bobo-Dioulasso, the second biggest city in Burkina-Faso. “I went there to learn a specific technic that is used to make a very luxurious fabric called: Bazin-riche. In addition, I did research on the different cultural ideas of what constitutes being “well dressed” in Burkina-Faso in comparison to the West-European ideas.“

“In Burkina-Faso people everywhere reminded me over and over again that a person is not alone but overly connected. All the pieces of a person’s history are akin and make you who you are. Not one or the other, not Dutch or Burkinabe, street culture or haute couture nor man or woman but identity, the Self, is one big connected web in which all these threads together are what makes it whole. And above all, what makes it unique, complex, and appealing. This idea about identity is the core of my collection.“

Images by Anne Lakeman