Noora Bragge

Noora Bragge’s BA thesis collection works as a bridge and as a dialogue between queer and Christian identities. It explores the two identities, combining elements from both queer leather culture and the history of queer fashion, as well as Christian liturgical aesthetics and language. Material exploration is at the core of the development of the work. While not every material could be understood as a winner, each of them held an important part in the process and carried a particular force within it. In this way, the different materials shaped the collection into its final form. One of the most highlighted materials in the collection is the leather, applied to multiple looks in different finishes and dyes. For the project’s research, Noora collected a range of cultural elements, from the Pope’s red shiny shoes to queer leather in bondage, discipline, dominance, and sadomasochism (BDSM) culture. The research analysis allowed the designer to find silly little bridges between Christianity and queer culture. “I wanted to create a collection that showcases the diversity inside the Christian communities, presented through joy and emancipation, freed from shame. [The collection] is for the inappropriate people at church, who might not have always felt most welcome there, but have remained as part of these communities, either visibly or not.”