Oriana Spinelli
Working between fashion design, material innovation, and sustainability, Spinelli explores how emerging materials can reshape not only what clothing is made from, but also how it is designed and understood. After developing a plant-based material during her MA at London College of Fashion, she became increasingly interested in the role of biomaterials within the future of fashion. The collaboration with Ephea offered Oriana the opportunity to translate this research into a tangible design project.
Building a Shell
The project begins with a simple idea: we are born without armour and spend a lifetime building one.
Inspired by the way a mollusk forms nacre around an irritation, Anatomy of Repair considers protection as a process rather than a barrier. Beauty emerges not as ornament, but as the trace of resistance. The shell becomes evidence of how something soft learns to endure.
Through this lens, the project explores femininity as both exposure and construction. Repair, covering, and rebuilding are presented not as signs of fragility, but as acts of strength.
A Living Material
At the centre of the project is Ephea, a biofabricated material that becomes a new kind of shell.
Neither armour nor ornament, it embodies protection as a living process. Folds, seams, and surfaces carry the marks of time, care, and regeneration, giving material a narrative dimension. The garments do not conceal vulnerability; they give it structure.
The Jacket
The concept takes shape in a sculptural jacket inspired by the layered geometry of shells. Curved volumes wrap around the body, creating a sense of protection while maintaining openness and movement.
Early sketches explored different interpretations of enclosure, from cocoon-like forms to more architectural silhouettes. Throughout the process, one question remained central: how can a garment protect without separating the wearer from the world?
The sleeve became the key design element, allowing protective volumes to develop around the body without obscuring it. The result is a garment that suggests a different form of armour—organic, responsive, and alive.
In Anatomy of Repair, resilience is understood not as hardness, but as the capacity to transform. Like nacre forming around a wound, protection grows layer by layer.
