Aspiring designer turns fear of death into fashion

Aspiring designer Samuel de Raadt has a few ideas in his collection Memento Mori, part of the graduate showcase at the 2024 Melbourne Fashion Festival.

The 22-year-old decided to turn his lifelong fear of death into fashion - complete with skeletal masks, and jackets covered in spikes inspired by medieval weaponry.

The aim is to take scary and depressing themes and transform them into garments that have a chilling beauty, de Raadt told AAP.

While his spiky masks, jackets and vests may not be a practical look for a day at the office, each of his designs is composed of a series of layers, which de Raadt assures are very wearable.

Well, mostly - even his 3D printed skull tie clip could be appropriate for certain corporate meetings.

Memento Mori was created on de Raadt's home sewing machine - three looks for his final semester at RMIT University, and another three when he heard he had been selected for the graduate showcase.

"It's pretty tricky. It's a very expensive thing to do, buying fabrics and machinery. It's a lot of work," he said.

The outfits are due for their runway debut on Tuesday night, and de Raadt is currently running final fittings at the Royal Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Despite his models having to wear balaclavas and masks, de Raadt is pleased to report they liked his garments and found them comfortable.

Overall, he's thrilled simply to have an audience for his designs.

"It's satisfying to put so much time and effort into something and then people really appreciate it," he said.

"It just makes me really happy. I'm very excited."

The aspiring designer is living off his savings and hopes to score work experience or an industry internship to begin his career.

Having just graduated, de Raadt feels he still has much to learn about tailoring, but the long-term aim is to start his own label.

"Having that creative freedom to explore things without limitations would be amazing," he said.

Australian Associated Press