Toni Martin

“There is always flesh beneath the dress!”

In her design, Toni Martin references the extreme corsetry of the pre-First World War period, in sharp contrast to how the pendulum of fashion would swing towards liberation of the body after the war. Corsets, and other restrictive clothing, caused women health problems and were unsuitable for modern life and work. Martin’s piece sits between fashion and sculpture, and addresses social and cultural issues while offering a surreal vision of a controversial fashion item.