Twenty-year-old Roosi Mändmaa from the Estonian Academy of Arts dedicates her project Seven Layers of Skin to the skin as a boundary, an archive, and a symbol of human existence. The title sounds like a fairy tale, and indeed, the dress tells a story of protection, memory, and identity.
“Our skin is the most honest archive of our lives. It records sunlight, wounds, scars, and touch — everything we have experienced,” says Roosi Mändmaa.
The design resembles a modern armor of transparency and fragility. The voluminous, floating silhouette evokes the garment of a mythical figure — light, airy, yet protective. It symbolizes an eighth layer of skin that humans create for themselves: clothing as both emotional and physical protection.
The inflatable framework forms the heart of the design, giving the dress adaptability and movement, much like skin itself. For its construction, Roosi Mändmaa uses recycled PVC material from old swimming pools, welded and shaped into a flexible structure. Layered above are transparent fabrics in varying skin tones, overlapping to resemble the layers of human skin.
Roosi Mändmaa experiments with skin-like surfaces, using 3D printing to transfer details such as moles, scars, and fine hairs directly onto the fabrics. The result is a dress that neither conceals nor idealizes the body but celebrates its diversity and vulnerability. Through heat sealing, UV stitching, and digital texturing, she combines traditional craftsmanship with contemporary technology. Seven Layers of Skin is a manifesto of self-acceptance and naturalness.
