Rachel Eleanor Appleby
My Mother the Sea
Influenced by growing up on the coast and its comfort, ‘My Mother the Sea’ is a narrative-based collection created using hand-crafted texture with sculpture. It portrays a woman escaping life’s pressures, finding solace in a small coastal town where each rockpool contains a whole ocean of life.
“Salt air dances around your hair, coiling and curling with a life of its own. Waves are crashing against the rocks, breaking against the wall of the promenade. You bring a shell up to your ear and the sound of you laughing and squealing in delight as a child plays out. In the distance, Mum is telling your brother off- he’s been chasing you around with seaweed, its tendrils rippling in the wind, threatening to cling to your body and mould and to you like a second skin. She’s not really mad though, amusement is clear in her tone and Dad is hiding his smile behind his hand as you flail around like a banshee.
There’s sand crunching underfoot and you know you’ll find it everywhere for weeks to come, a constant reminder of memories past and present and the thought of those still to come. Despite the grey of the Northern Sea the rare sunlight catches each rise and fall of the tide, a glistening gem luring you closer. It calls to you, tugging at your chest, pulling you in. Your hand reaches out of its own accord, fingertips gliding across the surface, absent-mindedly tracing shapes and letters until the ocean reaches out its own tender hand, delicately grasping your own with such warmth and familiarity you don’t hesitate to follow as it welcomes you in. You twist and turn through the water, an effortless dance your body knows every step to, your heart beating in sync with that of the ocean. You’re home.”
My Mother the Sea is a S/S 2024 womenswear demi-couture. Heavily influenced by my own personal experiences of growing up with the coast at my doorstep and using it as a place of comfort and grounding when facing my own struggles, I’ve created a narrative of a woman who has tried to escape the pressures by running away to a small coastal town where she has been enthralled and swept up into this fantasy-esque world where each puddle contains a whole ocean of life and treasures.