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Nensi Dojaka Brings the Female Gaze to the Runway
Nensi Dojaka’s designs are the epitome of the female gaze. She doesn’t just design clothes for women; she designs clothes for women. It is this attitude that has made her designs favourites for fashion royalty like Bella Hadid and Zendaya. Her sheer designs show off the female body for those who wish to do so. Unfortunately, we live in a world where what a woman chooses to do with her body has been treated as a subject of discourse.
However, the only person whose opinion matters in this is the woman the body belongs to. It has even reached the point where people argue about whether it is better for feminism if women cover up or wear more revealing clothing, which completely misses the point. Feminism is about a woman’s right to choose. Nensi Dojaka champions this by designing the most delicate and beautiful designs. Perfect for women who choose to show a little skin.
The Naked Dresses by Nensi Dojaka
This collection featured the usual ‘naked dresses’ that we know and love. My particular favourites are the two closing looks from the collection.
The vibrant red gown featured layers of varying sheerness. It features the designer’s trademark straps holding the dress together and creating delicate cut-outs.
However, the sparkling nude dress that followed was entirely sheer. It had scattered rhinestones that added a sparkling element to the otherwise completely naked dress. The placement of the rhinestones created a feeling of fluidity to the gown. The dress caught the light at the right moments to emphasise the movement of the dress with the body. This look reminded me of Bella Hadid’s Ralph & Russo dress from the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. It was a fashion moment that happened almost six years ago, and I am still not over it. So it is safe to say that I loved this dress from Nensi Dojaka.
The Little Black Dress
However, Dojaka did stray away from her trademark ‘naked dresses’ in this collection. She implemented some heavier materials, such as velvet and sequins to her designs. Even in these looks, she maintained a cohesive approach to her lingerie-inspired designs. While always playing with what was revealed and what was not.
One of my favourite ways in which she achieved that was through the curved silhouette. In fact, she designed a curved silhouette around the bust of a few of the looks. This wave-like curve teased exposed skin while keeping the chest area covered. But, it did so in a fluid and artistic shape. This shape was prominent in a variety of Little Black Dresses that bridged the gap at the centre of the bust with Dojaka’s trademark tulle. In other designs, she allowed the exposed skin to speak for itself, such as in the flowing red mini dress that took to the runway in the second half of the collection.
Mini-Dresses
Dojaka also played with the push and pull of modesty by exposing skin through the use of visible bra cups. This design choice took a variety of forms; one mini-dress featured a lingerie-esque lace trim around the exposed bra of the dress; another featured a sheer skin-toned bralette with vibrant red embroidery that served as the most delicate and sophisticated nipple tassels you will ever see (yes, we did just say that; no, we did not think it was possible either).
However, my favourite look that played with the idea of the exposed bra was Dojoka’s black asymmetrical jumpsuit that featured one skin-toned bra cup that was embellished with black tulle. The contrast of the heavy body of the black jumpsuit with the optical illusion of the skin-toned cup next to actually exposed skin in the cutout and delicate tulle came together to create a look full of all of the binaries of femininity.
