A choreographed dance executed by professional dancers looks effortless, but beneath the surface the dancer is a well-trained and hardworking machine. As a former dancer at the Alvin Ailey Dance School in NYC it was natural for me to use dance as inspiration for my final project. My goal was to create a choreographed collection that embodies the tension between the airy effortless appearance and the strict mechanism working within. I began searching which phenomenon seems to defy gravity in our world, and reached birds and parachutes. I used their structure as inspiration for patterns, which could predict and control the garments’ movement. Another part of my research was conducting a photo-shoot with a dancer. I wanted to capture moments of fabric in motion and examine the relationship between the body and the fabric. The results, which are the photography in motion images below, captured the emotion I wanted for the collection and were used as prints on the garments. Another goal was to express the dancer’s state of mind while dancing, that which is hidden from the audience during a performance. I wanted to visualize repetitive movements and intangible feelings like rhythm, breathing, heartbeat, goose-bumps and the awareness of ones body. Therefore, I added geometric embroideries made of reflective thread. The thread is barely visible but catches the light, only appearing for short moments. The collection is made of wools and light silks, which are weaved into each other in order to enhance the tension between the restrained mind and the free body. The tension between control and release.