Fashion cells

The collaborative efforts of UBC Professor Jacqueline Firkins of the UBC Department of Theatre and Film hit the catwalk at the UBC Frederic Wood Theatre. The show – Fashioning Cancer: the Correlation between Destruction and Beauty – made international news; a few of the 10 ball gowns’ unusual patterns are enlarged and colour-enhanced micro-photos of healthy cellular systems. However, most depict cancers and other life-threatening diseases on the cellular level. UBC Dr. Christian Naus and his colleagues captured the images which are meant, says Firkins, to overcome the “disconnect” experienced by women who have battled cancer versus the “fashion imagery that commonly represents the disease.” In turn, she hopes the dresses “simultaneously reflect a strength, beauty, and resilience” of these women.