Dare to Wear: Glass Dresses Exhibit by Diana Dias-Leão

A collection of dresses made mostly of coloured glass is now on display at the Walker Art Gallery.

The Dare to Wear exhibition, also called The Danger of the Image, consists of 14 glass dresses and two barbed-wire corsets, created by artist Diana Dias-Leão.



 The beautifully engaging display, which includes works such as Graffiti Dress, Secret Garden Dress and Cobweb Dress, is intended to highlight the issues of inner beauty and body dysmorphia in society.
Dias-Leão said her creations are “inspired by the way people interact” and that she loves to “explore themes of isolation and interaction by using human form, with or without the second social skin of garments.”

She added: “Anorexia, bulimia, self harm and body dysmorphic disorder are on the increase and connected in some way with aspects relating to image and lack of confidence.”

Dias-Leão worked on the dresses from 2005, when she won the Student Award from the Worshipful Company of Glass, and achieved a Masters degree from the University of Sunderland the following year.

She also has a BA Honours degree in Fashion & Textiles, and a HNDip. in Glass. She has worked for several designers, from the high street to the high end.

This is her first solo display, although her works have also been featured in other exhibitions such as the British Glass Biennale in 2006. Her other creations include two enormous cobwebs made from yarn and glass, made for the Winter Garden exhibition, and her new line of jewellery.