Amber
Healey

Do you dress for yourself or for others? Me Watching You Watching Me is Amber Healey’s tangible expression of the excitement at being seen, and seeing yourself through another’s gaze, explains Amber Healey, a student of BA Fashion Design with Marketing at Central Saint Martins. ‘During the pandemic I missed the exhibitionism and show of dressing,’ she says. ‘This collection is the release of the inner excitement to feel seen again.’

Inspired by the physical sensation of feeling someone else watching you – the electric current that fizzes across your skin, making your hairs stand on end – Healey explored this consciousness of self and the impulses we have to either hide or emphasise erogenous zones throughout the collection. Healey took inspiration from the pastel palette of Federico Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits for the collection, down to the vibrant scarlet which cuts through the sheer body of a colour block dress. Elsewhere, dramatic, technically structured gowns are reminiscent of Charles James couture, but constructed of distressed textiles and fetish fabrics, toeing the line between classic femininity and high-octane, modern club kid design. A backless, yellow PVC gown falls into exaggerated ruffles, while a beaded tulle cage skirt is paired with an embellished latex bodysuit.

Healey’s collection is a sensual feast of colour, texture, skin and sex, an optimistic take on post-pandemic dressing, which emulates the delicious notion of knowing you’re being watched.

Ellie June Goodman
@elliejunegoodman