BASIM KAMI

My women`s fall/winter collection is devoted to Ophelia, the tragic character of Shakespear`s „Hamlet“. She is typified by Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, the model for John Everett Millais´famous oilpainting „Ophelia“. The painting was finished in 1852 and reflects perfectly the subject of desire for death. Consequently it is one of the most important pre-raphaelite artworks. Ophelia is a timeless muse, because the poetry of a young drowned will always be mystic. The decadent topic mirrors both madness and self-destruction. I feel enormously touched by the antithetic combination of youth and death. It reminds me of that beauty, that passed too early. The profound and morbide subject can be interpreted in diffrent ways. I picked up the love to the element water and put it in the foreground of the story, that I want to tell with my collection. My interpretation of Ophelia`s suicide is that she feels so strongly attracted by water, that she can`t resist even if it means her death. I wanted to mention the paradox  relation of water and humans. On the one hand we need water to stay alive, but on the other hand it can kill us.