Marie Weiss - Hochschule Pforzheim

Schlampen - Flecken auf dem Ideal – Hochschule Pforzheim

The graduate collection “Sluts – stains on an ideal“ („Schlampen – Flecken auf dem Ideal“) by Marie Weiss examines the term „slut“ and illustrates how our perception of women is shaped by the ideal of purity. On one hand, women are viewed as figures of order; on the other, they are fundamentally considered dirty due to their physicality or the mere existence of their sexuality. The collection demonstrates the desperate attempt to perform this purity, drawing on three stereotypes: the bride, the housewife, and the secretary. These roles blur and become abstracted. In the process, it becomes clear that no matter how much a woman performs, the slightest mistake leads to her being labeled a slut. The collection ends with an anticlimax: the slut does not appear as a monster, but as a reduction to mere being — a woman who simply stops performing.

In early 2026, I completed my fashion studies at the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences. Central to my work is my playful approach with patternmaking and silhouettes, in which I reinterpret classic forms, deconstruct them, and place them in new contexts. In doing so, I critically engage with societal ideals and social structures. Fashion to me is a way to question these, as well as my own thoughts and emotions, often through a feminist lense, to engage deeply with various ways of thinking and topics. My work is driven by a positive spiteful attitude, the desire not to simply accept things as they are often presented to us.

Credits
1: Bild: Almut Rist @almut_visuals

Model: Ella Otter

2: Bild: Almut Rist @almut_visuals

Model: Melissa Braun

3: Bild Almut Rist @almut_visuals

Model: Schulamit Rosenkranz

4: Bild: Almut Rist @almut_visuals

Model: Lara Kruse

5: Bild: Almut Rist @almut_visuals

Model: Theresia Nürk