Home Away from Home: Stitching pieces of you together
- Written byAreen Soni
- Published date 06 November 2025
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For her final project Areen Soni, MA Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation, developed a collection exploring the contrasting duality of homesickness and adaptation to the new. Through a series of immersive workshops, participants were invited to reflect on the meaning of ‘home’ and examine how identity and belonging shape clothing and self-expression. Areen’s work is showcased as part of LCF’s Postgraduate Class of 2025: Fashion Business School Exhibition.
The idea for this collection emerged from something deeply personal: the constant feeling of being in between places.
After moving countries for education and opportunities, and living between India and London, I often find myself missing one place when I’m in the other. When I’m in London, I long for home: India, warmth, family, and familiarity. But when I’m away from London, I find myself missing the independence, fun, and energy of London life. It’s this feeling of duality, of existing in two worlds but belonging fully to neither, that sparked the concept.
I’ve always been surrounded by people whose lives are spread across continents: friends and family scattered all over the world. Conversations with them made me realise that this longing for multiple homes is not unique to me. Many of us today are living “in between”, constantly navigating where we come from and where we are now. That emotional push and pull became the foundation for Home Away from Home: Stitching pieces of you together - a project that explores how we carry pieces of our past, our memories, and our sense of belonging wherever we go.
Upcycling became the heart of this exploration. It felt like the most natural way to translate the idea of memory and transformation into something tangible. Using old garments that have been worn, loved, and lived in, and turning them into something new gives them another life. It’s a way of holding onto our stories and identities while still moving forward. Instead of discarding these pieces, they become vessels of memory, carrying fragments of home, love, and identity. Every stitch, every seam holds meaning. The process of upcycling reflects migration and adaptation, reshaping what already exists to fit a new context and life.
The stories that emerged through this project have been incredibly moving and diverse. Each participant brought their own experiences, emotions, and memories into the process. Some wanted to create capes, pieces that symbolised strength, comfort, and self-expression. Others wanted memory garments, something they could hold onto or wear as a reminder of a specific person or place. A few described wanting a safety blanket that offered emotional protection and familiarity in an unfamiliar environment.
The collection itself became a collaborative creation shaped by the voices, garments, and emotions of the participants. Participants shares their stories, interpretations of home, and personal clothing through workshops, pop-ups, and interactive sessions. These became the raw materials that were repurposed and reimagined into new forms. Every piece tells a story not just of fabric and fashion, but of belonging, nostalgia, displacement, and reconnection. It’s not a collection designed for people, but with them, a shared tapestry of lived experience.
Ultimately, I hope participants and viewers take away a sense of closeness to themselves, their memories, and their idea of home. In a globalised and fast-changing world, we often lose touch with the small, intimate things that make us who we are. Home Away from Home: Stitching pieces of you together is a reminder to pause, reflect, and reconnect with those parts. To understand that home isn’t just a physical place, but it’s built from emotions, relationships, and objects that carry meaning.
If each piece makes you feel even a little bit more at home, then the project has done its job. It’s about finding yourself in the spaces in-between, embracing the fluidity of identity, and wearing your story quite literally on your sleeve.
Visit Areen’s work at LCF Postgraduate Class of 2025: Fashion Business School Exhibition, open until 8 November 2025 at LCF’s East Bank campus.
