Diana Mikhail
Fashion Design, Fashion Studies
BABYLON
About the Project
Significant of cultural remanence, Babylon fuses contemporary trends and ancient Assyrian traditions in order to signify the moral honor code of Assyrian femininity: a code that demands women of the Middle East to seek glamour in times of turmoil, both in the embodiment of reign and survival. The concepts to my work are a direct reflection of real-life ideologies that I generally fear or have refrained from exploring in my past. Creating art is my therapy; meaning I travel to the deepest and darkest parts of myself and beautify them through fashion in order to tackle them.
About Diana Mikhail
My main focus at Columbia has always been fashion design. Fashion has always had a significant responsibility in my life, as I depended on it to manifest the person that I wanted to transform into for that day. Whether I needed to feel more confident or more humble, fashion was always there to provide that option for me. This project is a direct reflection of my values in my learning as it combines skills, textiles, and concepts to represent the growth and empowerment of a woman as she travels through life.
“Diana references her cultural heritage in the design process, which renders the work dynamic and personal. There is a wonderful tension that she creates between feminist/feminine that underscores the traditional and contemporary strengths and burdens of womanhood. The designs are visually complex, have a formality in delivery yet are eminently wearable and timeless.”
-Virginia Heaven, Associate Professor, Fashion Studies