Riders

Category: Apparel

My project focuses on the sport of polo. Polo is a team sport played on horseback, in which a small ball is driven through the opposing team’s goal. At its core, the game is athletic, yet it also embodies a complex aesthetic and serves as a broad source of visual inspiration. Beyond the rules of the game, there are clear codes and conventions regarding the appearance of the players, their uniforms, and the various visual aspects of the sport. Due to the history of polo and the way it entered Western culture, along with the meanings embedded in the practice of the sport and its distinct visual characteristics, the game has become a status symbol associated with class and masculinity. The aesthetics of polo, together with its social and cultural connotations, resonated with me both as a person and as a designer. They served as a starting point for designing new systems of dress that contain tensions related to status, masculinity, sport, and leisure, while focusing on the visual elements of the polo rider. The project draws inspiration from the world of polo, and specifically from the image of the polo rider: traditional uniforms, the horse, riding equipment, and the playing environment. Through manipulations of material, cuts, colors, and the fusion of inspirations, polo is translated into a new collection that offers a fresh interpretation. Riding trousers become cut-out shorts, the green field becomes the focal point of the look, and the stripes on the shirt are transformed into a planned quilt. Leather allows for the creation of a look that moves between rigid and soft, between leisure and sport, and between traditional masculinity and a new form of masculinity.

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