FMP: Title: ID: 1409.1928

CHARLY's CIRCUS

Inspired by Charly's life from enlisting in the war to escaping to the circus referencing tent details, functional pockets and hand printed fabric.

My FMP concept is inspired by a man's life. Charly was an animal trainer who spent his life travelling and performing with the Circus. With morbid begins of losing his father to world war II, for helping Jews escape, his father was killed in the gas chambers and Charly (or Heinz his German name) was taken to a Nazi orphanage, which he then went on to be recruited for the German navy, which resulted in his captured by the American forces. But he escaped and went back to Berlin for his mother and found a job at the circus. His career grew, working with horses, lions and tigers. A constant reoccurrence through his story was a link with belonging and symbolisation of the orphanage, army, being reunited with his mother and the circus, which is very well known for its community and solidarity. Using this concept, my collection will be inspired by Charly’s life, referencing his begins in the war and his journey through the Circus.