The Unwearable Collection™ A fashion line based on the experiences of patients living with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP)

GPP is a rare, lifelong, and potentially life-threatening skin disease that is characterized by flares that appear all over the body as painful, pus-filled blisters. The symptoms can include fever, headaches, extreme tiredness, a burning sensation on the skin, and impact the mental health of people living with the condition due to the social stigma and emotional burden of GPP.

To bring the reality of GPP to life, Boehringer Ingelheim collaborated with Bart Hess, and people living with GPP to create The Unwearable Collection™, an art collection consisting of five through-provoking designs, creatively depicting the physical and emotional burden of living with GPP.

In 2023, The Unwearable Collection™ expanded to include a new fifth statue, developed in collaboration with students from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York under the mentorship of Bart Hess.

Each mannequin represents a different key GPP experience: the physical pain, the pain of isolation, the life-threatening nature of the condition, the intensity of a flare and the mental health impact. Find out more below and hear about the inspiration for this unique project.

The five individual collection pieces were inspired by the real-life stories of people living with GPP: Christine, Brandon, Dale, Emmylou, Yuzlina, Iris, Carlie and Elke. Each person provided their own individual experience of the disease that Bart Hess interpreted and crafted into physical figures.

Pain of Isolation

Using sharp glass, Bart Hess created this outfit to represent the physical and emotional distance GPP caused between Christine and her family. During a severe flare, Christine will be unable to pick up her daughter due to the pain.

Physical Pain

Sharp paper shards were used to emulate the feeling of “thousands of paper cuts” to which Dale compared his GPP flares to.

Life-Threatening

Hundreds of blades and knives were used in this imposing design to show the life-threatening nature of the disease, inspired by Christine comparing the pain of a GPP flare to being stabbed repeatedly.

Flare Intensity

Figurative, and poetic, Bart Hess brought the intensity of Brandon’s GPP flares to life by using brightly colored foil that sweeps upwards, representing Brandon’s use of the term “wildfire” when describing the symptoms of a flare.

Trapped by Uncertainty

This statue, created by students from the Fashion Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Bart Hess, symbolizes the mental health impact and burden of feeling Trapped by Uncertainty. The design combines unwearable elements such as shards of glass and crystals with materials used in everyday fashion design. The outer layer materials have been manipulated to appear as smoke billowing around the individual, to represent the feeling of uncertainty that many people with GPP experience between flares. The placement of colorful glass on the hands, face and body represents the beauty and individuality of people living with this rare disease.

About Bart Hess

Bart Hess (pictured above with Christine, living with GPP) is an internationally renowned designer with exhibits across the world. His work explores several fields combining material studies, animation, and photography in a surrealist manner to tell real-life stories through his art and designs. 

Because of his creative perspective and ability to bridge the relationship between materials and the body, Boehringer Ingelheim chose to partner with Bart to uniquely bring to life how severe GPP can be – using a medium that many people can relate to: clothing. After hearing about the experiences of people living with GPP, Bart Hess crafted art pieces that depict the different types of pain that the disease causes through using diverse materials, like glass and knives. These pieces form the centrepiece artworks for The Unwearable Collection™.