Limestone Bookshop

Maya Gawel - Restitching Myths, Rewriting Garments

Maya Gawel is a critical fashion researcher and garment maker whose practice explores the relationship between clothing, feminism, storytelling and public space. Working through textile collage, deconstruction and re-sewing, she creates wearable publications that carry critical narratives into the world.

At Limestone Bookstore, Gawel presents ‘Restitching Myths, Rewriting Garments’, her master's graduation project. The project consists of wrap-around garments made by disassembling existing clothes and incorporating collected fabric scraps. Situated somewhere between skirts, belts and aprons, the garments can be adjusted to fit different bodies and resist conventional fashion categories and sizing.

The work draws on historical records and myths surrounding women, witches, goddesses and foremothers. At its centre is Diana, the mythical goddess associated with women, foreigners and wild nature. Inspired in part by Silvia Federici's Caliban and the Witch, Gawel traces how myths have contributed to the construction of oppressive and exploitable positions for women.

By bringing these stories back into circulation, ‘Restitching Myths, Rewriting Garments’ invites conversations between the wearer, the garment and public space. The project also questions the myths embedded within fashion itself — from glamour and consumption to the often-hidden realities of unpaid labour and waste.

Through a feminist rewriting of these narratives, Gawel uses clothing as a tool to question what we consider normal, desirable and acceptable.