How the experience of Armenian highlanders helps create clothing that protects the person, the material, and the culture.The project demonstrates what modern fashion can learn from a lifestyle existing outside the culture of fast consumption.

Rapid consumption and globalization are eroding local customs, taking with them traditional crafts and a mindful approach to possessions. Clothing, daily life, and the pace of living are becoming homogenized, causing skills like felting, knitting, and wool processing to lose their practitioners. Yet, fashion itself is increasingly seeking local identity, natural materials, and handcrafted labor. As long as the bearers of tradition are alive, this heritage can be preserved and translated into the language of contemporary fashion—therefore, this conversation cannot be delayed.

This is a female silhouette composed of six elements, where the shepherd’s attire and the wedding suit are unified through natural materials and handcrafted detail. Harshness is conveyed through dense wool felt, plaid, and a masculine beret; tenderness is expressed through chiffon, lace, and felted wool. The key technique is material substitution: the traditional burlap is crafted not only from felt but also from sheer chiffon.

Research: Peleshyan’s film «Seasons, ” a film about pastoral life, personal and shared archive. Concept and Color: The duality of austerity and tenderness, drawing from a personal photographic archive palette. Materials and Techniques: Wool felt, chiffon, needle felting, knitted lace. Creation and Photography: Sewing six elements for the look and photoshoot.

This teaser concept is the first step toward a complete women’s collection, which will form the basis of the graduation project. Next steps include: developing the material substitution technique across the entire collection; establishing collaborations with Armenian felting and knitting artisans; and producing items in small, handmade batches.