Student’s medium covers fashion from small to large
ConcordiaWORKS
The last several issues of Worn illustrate McMahon’s eclectic sense of style.
courtesy of worn
When she founded the Worn fashion journal last year, Serah-Marie McMahon was fed-up with mainstream magazines and their homogenizing influence on women’s fashion choices. And she knew she was in good company.
“So many women say that fashion magazines make them feel bad, and I find that atrocious. Fashion should be fun, invigorating, and a way to express your personality,” said McMahon, a third-year Fibres student in Concordia’s Department of Studio Arts.
“Instead of inspiring you to dress creatively, they simply tell you what to wear each season. It’s like following a recipe, and I’m really not interested in that.”
Among women’s chief complaints, McMahon says, is that the selection of clothing presented in the big glossies is too limiting. Many magazines continually showcase the same often expensive, and usually trendy designers (who, not coincidentally, are also their biggest advertisers).
The Montreal-born McMahon, a self-described style “nerd,” says Worn traverses the largely unexplored intersection between fashion and art. “I wanted to know everything about the clothing I was looking at and studying every day.”
In its pages, readers can gain inspiration from colourful layouts, as well as learn about the various ways in which the female bustline has been shaped during the twentieth century, avant-garde fashion in Weimar, Germany, or the history of Bakelite plastic.
Published twice yearly, its 48 pages burst with thoughtful writing, vibrant photography and graphics, most of it produced by Concordia students.
The fourth issue of Worn will be launched May 5 at My Hero Gallery, 3655 St. Laurent Blvd. suite 206. The celebration features an auction for 25 one-of-a-kind handbags crafted by Montreal designers. Viewing starts at 8 p.m., bidding at 9 p.m.