Large Fierce Mammal

Source: http://www.wired.com/design/2013/09/2110ap-whattowear_burial/

“My role, which began as designer, transformed into maker, sculptor, scientist, celebrant, dresser and death-wear facilitator.  Garments for the Grave is a practice that has emerged from previous project work, and uses skills from the fashion realm whilst incorporating elements of funeral celebrancy. It is a practice that functions as ritual engaged through the creation or fashioning of a burial garment. It neither denies nor flirts with death, but presents it in a way that invites observers to view it as natural, undeniable, inevitable and at times, beautiful. The garments are designed for easy inclusion of dressing rituals performed by the family. There has been significant attention from the press regarding this work, which is an indication that it is a ‘fashionable’ topic, and a realisation that there is a need and demand for this type of engagement.” ~ Pia Interlandi

Pia Interlandi (being darkly hot at right) – Source: http://www.piainterlandi.com/biography/

Pia Interlandi is a fashion designer with an impressive resume. Her current practice is called Garments for the Grave, its basic premise being this:

In almost every human culture, when an individual is prepared for burial or cremation, their body is dressed in a garment that will literally and symbolically become part of the body as it returns to the earth.

She elaborates:

This research explores the ways fashion design can directly approach the realities of the dead body, specifically, the moments between death and disintegration, and in doing so, seeks to contribute to the ways in which fashion design can play an important role in the way we approach the dead body and the rituals surrounding death.

Please consider this introduction as your launching pad to explore Ms. Interlandi’s website. We LFMs find an attraction in Viking style funerals involving much drinking on the part of the mourners, and a properly prepared body immolated on a beautifully crafted wooden canoe cast adrift on the sea, but for those of you of alternate bent, you might find something you like!