Capitol Goddess
This couture design is for the Capitol’s elite royalty, the blueprint of what the Capitol’s 1% looks like. She is larger-than-life, statuesque, and unreachable, with armour surrounding her to complete her untouchable status. An ethereal goddess, this represents a physical amalgamation of the film’s marketing, taking inspiration from the gold floral imagery seen on the film’s poster. I wanted to capture the disparity of wealth and class between the districts as depicted in the Hunger Games films, with the Capitol guarding vast amounts of wealth while other districts suffer.
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The dress has been made from a premium olive-green velvet, with hand-sewn pleats at the waist for a drape in the fabric. The bodice contains boning and an invisible zipper closure. The garment has been finished at the hem with couture sewing techniques. The headpiece and body piece have been hand-made by me. Photoshoot and styling have been directed by me.
This work takes inspiration from Hollywood classic Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Christian Dior Couture 1998, Thierry Mugler’s work in the 1990s, Alexander McQueen A/W 2009, Beyonce’s Grammys 2017 performance and the work of American costume designer Edith Head.
Project Context
A part of my university studies at RMIT, one assessment was done to celebrate the launch of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, in partnership with Village Roadshow, challenging students to produce a collection of designs that represent the theming of the Hunger Games series. Capitol Goddess is my submission for the promotional brief.
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The assessment required students to pitch three concepts and then see one of them to fruition. All concepts, as well as the chosen one (Capitol Goddess), are detailed below. Village Roadshow then chose a select number of pieces to be shown at the Australian premiere of the film in a runway showcase, and I was lucky to be chosen as one of the students selected.
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Additionally to the runway showcase, I did my own separate photoshoot which will be shown below.
Design Concept #1
This concept, produced in CLO3D, is a streetwear-inspired bomber jacket fitted with pockets for fly fishing and surviving in the wilderness. It takes inspiration from District 4 from the Hunger Games series, which is known for fishing and its vast amount of wealth. Because of this, the jacket is made from high-quality material in the CLO3D engine.
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The piece takes inspiration from Prada MW F/W 24, (2) K-Way MW F/W 24,
(3) Fly Fishing Jacket, (4) White Mountaineering MW F/W 23 and (5) Rains MW Fall 23. The specific pieces referenced are below.
Design Concept #2
The concept on your left is inspired by one of Katniss Everdeen's dresses in the first film. reimagined for a more avant garde setting. It is a floor-length evening gown with a sculptured wire body piece fitted on the bust resembling a archery bow and arrow fan piece attached to the back to channel Katniss' weaponry of choice, the bow and arrow.
References for this concept include Alexander McQueen Spring 1997; (2) Katniss Everdeen's Red Dress in The Hunger Games; (3) Off-White Fall 2021 Electric Blue Dress; (4) Tennis Court Scene Dress in Sabrina; (5) Renaissance Era Fashion.
Design Concept #3
A third concept that did not make it pass initial ideation, this is a skin-tight, full-body gown with structured finishings at the bust and glove. An AB rhinestone covered latex fabric was envisioned. While a concept with such minimal progress would not make it into the folio, I'm proud of the design, illustration and mood board, so I'm happy to have it here.
Inspiration for this concept has been illustrated in an Instagram Reel which can be viewed by clicking the link below.
Mood Board
Design Concept #4 - Capitol Goddess
This fourth concept was brought to fruition as it felt the most realisable compared to the other three concepts within the time frame and skills I had at the time.
Below is an excerpt from the concept statement of this finalised design:
"This couture design is for the Capitol’s elite royalty, the blueprint of what the Capitol’s 1% looks like. She is larger-than-life, statuesque, and unreachable, with armour surrounding her to complete her untouchable status. An ethereal goddess, this represents a physical amalgamation of the film’s marketing, taking inspiration from the gold floral imagery seen on the film’s poster. I wanted to capture the disparity of wealth and class between the districts as depicted in the Hunger Games films, with the Capitol guarding vast amounts of wealth while other districts suffer. The wearer is complete with headwear, bodywear, accessories, so much fabric to her garment that most of it falls to the floor – an excessiveness and overconsumption that illustrates pure villainy."
Design Process
As velvet is a slippery fabric requiring a high skill level, I decided to do a first toile in a cheaper crushed velvet so that I could get a feel of how the fabric reacts on a straight-stitch machine. The toile itself was nothing impressive, it was just to get accustomed to the fabric.
The final fabric I was using was expensive and I did not want to use it all up in toiling. So, to determine how I wanted the draping to look on the form, I did some draping on the dress form first with my final fabric to play around with ideas, and then with a synthetic fabric that I felt had similar qualities to that final velvet, and from there we had a second toile under our belt.
Once I knew the draping shape was what I was after, I did a third toile using my final fabric but only constructing the front skirt panel, just to make sure the draping was correct.
It was a success, and I felt comfortable going onto my final.
This all had to do with the front panel. The bust area was quite simple, just two princess seams and you're good to go. I did some 'slash and opens' on the back skirt panel to allow for some more volume and to give more of a 'gown' aesthetic.
I was excited to make headwear as it was a first for me at the time. The only issue I ran into was the foam I used to hold most of the materials would melt away when I applied hot glue. At the time, I did not think to use a standard glue to bring it all together.
The headpiece was made by first spray painting synthetic flowers, barbecue sticks and wiring with a primer and then gold spray paint. The pieces were then slowly brought together with a millinery headband used for a base.
The process of the dress and headpiece have been captured in Instagram Reels that can be viewed through the links below:
Photoshoot
Model: Hannah Ruthven
The photoshoot was separate from the university assessment. I was eager to get the experience of working in a fashion shoot setting and being able to capture the look of this piece.
The photoshoot style I was going for was an editorial magazine cover to further emulate the untouchability of the character being portrayed.
