Fashion - Bachelor

My Heart Seeks a Garden

My Heart Seeks a Garden explores the feeling of fragility in a life full of harsh realities, honouring the strength that comes with reclaiming your softer self in a world where you feel forced to be strong. The collection envisions a secret garden to escape to, where textures are ethereal and flowers grow in the darkest of places.

Stella McMullen

Vote Now

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

My Heart Seeks a Garden embodies both mental escapism and the solace found in the act of creating by hand. Developed during a period of active grief, the collection became a personal escape, offering comfort in the simple act of using my hands to create something beautiful. Through this process, making became a way to navigate difficult emotions, finding softness, beauty and a sense of peace.

Materials

I sourced all my materials for this project from The Nest Community, The Fabric Store and Ella Moda Bridal Studio. Lace scraps are patchworked together to cling and climb like vines across the four looks, conveying the delicate nature of the collection. All silk georgette and cotton scraps were collected after garment construction and transformed into flowers through dry felting with wool roving, symbolising how what is lost is never far away.

The Nest Community sponsorship was incredibly valuable to this project, with access to so many unique and vintage textiles and trims inspiring so much of the collection. I have loved working with the beautiful wool and 100% cotton materials I sourced in-store.

Stella McMullen

Stella McMullen is a fashion designer based in Meanjin/Brisbane, with a love for all things vintage and a passion for giving old materials a new life. She works with lace salvaged from bridal studio offcuts, alongside fabrics and garments sourced from second-hand stores, transforming pre-loved materials into something new. Her work blends soft, feminine and whimsical details with vintage-inspired design and a thoughtful approach to fashion. Stella finds beauty in the finer details and loves uncovering the potential in pieces that might otherwise be overlooked.

Vote For This Project

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
This field is hidden when viewing the form
Project