Chloe Newman is a fashion design student based in London and studies at the University for the Creative Arts. Her final major project derived from her interest in abandoned places and derelict buildings. Chernobyl stood out to her as the ‘holy grail’ of abandoned places. A city of 50,000 people who were essentially vacated over night and were forced to leave the majority of their belongings behind. Chloe‘s use of earthy, neutral tones contrasts with pops of oranges and blues, influenced by the over-grown landscape of Chernobyl and Babushka’s decorative paintings. Her goal was to create luxury fashion pieces that had great attention to detail. She focused on textural fabrics, hand-painted prints and unique silhouettes; as well as having the devestating story to tell behind it.

Chloe wanted to create something unexpected, she achieved this by telling the devestating story of the Chernobyl disaster throughout her collection and including masculine silhouette’s that were inspired by the military uniforms and protective clothing, used within the series. She then mixed masculine silhouettes with feminine styles by adding a surprising, delicate and elegant twist. She created a detailed, hand-painted print; inspired by the hand painted cloths hung in the Babushkas homes. The paintings represented strength and protection, very ironic due to them living in the world’s deadliest city.