Justine
Janot

‘I chose fashion, but I honestly think it could have been anything else,’ says 22 year old Justine Janot. Growing up in Paris, she loved to draw but was more interested in video games than fashion. For her graduate collection, she designed clothing for original characters whose bodies must adapt to a dystopian climate. It celebrates her lifelong love affair with animation and fascination with biology, with silhouettes that reference bone structures from species dating back to the prehistoric era.

One look features a staggeringly oversize pair of black rubber boots, upcycled from defective wellies as a collaboration with shoemaker Daniel Charkow. Paired with rubber gloves they warn of chemical disasters, but pops of colour defy fear and suggest life flourishing from chaos. ‘I want people to feel safe when they wear my collection. These strong, feminine silhouettes don’t only make them survivors, but guardians, protectors and life givers.’ After interning at Acne Studios, she joined Louis Vuitton where she established her love of leather – a prominent feature of the collection and like all her materials ethically sourced, with waste used to create mosaics echoing reptile skin.

After graduation, Janot will seek collaborations on new designs and explore other disciplines such as animation, costume design and performance art; ‘I love character and set design, and creating new worlds, environments and atmospheres.’

Sienna Mayers, BA Fashion Journalism
@siennamayers