A research project that explores identity as a constantly evolving construction, where memory, culture and clothing intertwine to question the ways we choose to represent ourselves.
Remains
IED Madrid - Student: Alejandra Coco Bassey Oubiña
Academic year
2025-2026
Remains explores how nostalgia, memory and cultural codes shape the way we present ourselves to the world, understanding clothing as a contemporary mask that revals as much as it conceals. Inspired by the ancestral symbolism of ritual masks, the project challenges the idea of an authentic identity, presenting it instead as something in constant transformation.
The research draws on references from anthropology, art and visual culture to examine the tension between the individual and the roles they perform in society. From Cindy Sherman´s performative identities to Francis Bacon´s depersonalised figures and Hans Bellmer's fragmented bodies, the project reflects on how image, memory and representation shape our perception of the self.
This discourse is translated into a collection that reinterprets elements of the masculine wardrobe—including linen shirts, tartans, stripes, ties, sportswear and references to classic tailoring—transforming them into symbols charged with meaning. Through the layering of aesthetic and cultural codes, the garments become repositories of memory that create a dialogue between tradition, identity and representation, blurring the boundaries between the personal and the collective.
Remains reflects on the images we inherit and those we choose to inhabit. A project that understands identity as a process of continous construction, where every garment becomes a mask capable of preserving memory, challenging stereotypes and opening up new ways of representing ourselves.
Alejandra Coco Bassey Oubiña is a student on the Bachelor's Degree in Fashion Design.
