Skin of Identity: Fashion, History, and the Self
Explore Ghazal Shayani's 'Skin of Identity', an artistic deconstruction of the velvet gown inspired by Farah Diba and the tension between power and self.
SKIN OF IDENTITY
The Body Under the Dress
GHAZAL SHAYANI
THE CONCEPT
When I wear this red velvet top and look at myself in the mirror, I don’t only see my body — I see history looking back at me. This work explores the tension between wearing a garment designed for power and the personal reality underneath it.
HISTORICAL MUSE
Farah Diba's Royal Velvet Gown
Represented the image of a powerful woman and a modern nation.
Her body became a surface for projecting beauty, control, and politics.
When I wear a similar velvet dress today, I feel connected to that image, even though I live in a completely different time and place.
CULTURAL REFLECTION
MATERIAL: VELVET
Looks rich and shiny, but absorbs light instead of reflecting it.
Soft, luxurious, yet concealing.
People see the surface, but not what is inside.
REFLECTIVE MATERIALS
I added crystals and reflective materials around the edges of the open back. They are not there to decorate me. They act like broken pieces of a mirror, showing that my identity is shaped by how I am seen, remembered, and judged.
DECONSTRUCTION
By cutting the dress into a top and opening the back, I removed the idea of a royal gown and turned it into something more personal.
Cut the original dress into a top to remove the 'royal' association.
THE FRONT
Elegant and controlled. How I present myself to the world.
THE BACK
Open, soft, and exposed. How I feel when I am alone.
SKIN IS THE TRUE SURFACE OF IDENTITY
My skin becomes the real surface of the work, not the fabric. The reflective elements framing the open back demonstrate how identity is rarely just our own—it is constructed by the gaze of others.
PERSONAL MEANING
Carrying more than just clothes: culture, expectations, and memories.
By damaging the perfect velvet surface, I allow something more honest to appear — myself.
- artistic-identity
- fashion-design
- cultural-history
- velvet-material
- conceptual-art
- deconstruction
- visual-metaphor









