Persistent

MASTERS IN FASHION COM ISTITUTO EUROPEO DI DESIGN

MMUNICATION AND STYLING

22 NOVEMBER 2019

e m t il u b e h se ou h e th y b I was so amazed d e k c lo e r e w s r oo d e th I haven't realised

The

heart

Written Letter Project

r

by Mia Maria Mikhail

Baby me...

Hello, my name is Mia Maria Mikhail, I’m half Lebanese and half Brazilian. I have a B.A in Fashion Design from Notre Dame Louaize University and I’m currently pursuing my masters in fashion communication and styling at IED Milan, Italy.

My thesis project topic is about Mental Health Discrimination turning into the Holi festival of India. The reason why I chose this topic, is because after 3 months of coming to Milan for my masters, I wasn’t feeling well and I had to go back to Lebanon, my home country.

Even though it is not common in my country to consult a psychiatrist at the first place. I went to his clinic because I come from a background where my family believes in mental health as a priority. The doctor said that I am going through a depression and I need to take antidepressant pills to help me come back to Milan and finish my masters. This experience affected me a lot and opened my eyes wide to others as globally and worldwide more than 300 million people suffers from depression. And especially in our Middle Eastern countries, mental health is not socially acceptable yet. I hope my video will help to spread this message.

Life is t life is why to l compli I hate m I want t

EVERY

tough, hard, live? its icated. my life, to die...

YDAY

Im someh with regula life.

how out of step ar

y e r e h w s i e m o H

s n i g e b y your stor

THINGS ARENT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM When we see a sign on a car that says, “baby on board” or “handicapped driver”, naturally, we’re more patient with the driver. We slow down and give them space to drive, because we know there’s a vulnerable person inside.

Would we be so considerate if the sign wasn’t there?

I can almost, definitely say no.

The truth is, we don’t know what people are going through. Because people don’t wear signs to illustrate their struggles. You don’t see a sign attached to somebody saying, “I’m going through a divorce”, “I’ve lost a child”, “I’m feeling depressed”, or “I’ve been diagnosed with cancer”. If we could visually see what those around us are going through, we would definitely be kinder.

SO WHY DO WE NEED A SIGN? Pain is relative and everybody around you is going through their own pain, and it’s a pain we know nothing about. A pain that’s often masked with a smile, to protect the vulnerable person inside. Whether we know what’s going on or not, we have to treat everybody as

if they’re wearing a sign that we can’t see. Mental Health issues are invisible illnesses, that don’t always look the same from the outside. You can have everything in the world but still be unhappy and that is not because you were hard to please, or you’re just never satisfied.

It’s because pain, sadness and depression do not discriminate between people. We often make the mistake of thinking the answer to our happiness lies in having the life of somebody else, without realising that many of the people we wish we were are going through struggles so PAINFUL. Success, money, travel and even a smile doesn’t mean happiness and the face we show the world is often just the best mask that we could find to get through the day.

Mental illness doesn’t care how successful you are, and being funny, isn’t the same as being happy. Some people use comedy as the wall to hide their darkness, the mask they wore to make everybody else’s day.

est I’m not hon out lf ab with myse ant! w y ll a e r i t wha

u I feel g to put m and le

ng r wanti o f y t l i u first myself mily behind, y fa eave m

on

Anx

ssi e r p e D , iety

Passion Fruit

Passion

Life

Mental Health The Gift

Her name is Olivia Yacoub, it was almost twelve at midnight, and I haven’t found the perfect model I imagined for my project. The shooting was the second day, everything was ready. Location, photographer, team, props ...just missing the model. How funny, the main, and most important thing for the video.

While scrolling through my followers on Instagram, I saw Olivia, with her cute curly hair and her pure innocent face, I knew SHE WAS THE ONE. She is funny, natural, modest and true to herself.

Even though we’ve never met before, on the second day, it felt as if we knew eachother for so long.

If time goes back, I wouldn’t choose anyone else, but YOU, OLIVE.

Free Spirit Free FreeSpirit Spirit

No other day holds more fu

y... uture than this.

From behind the scenes, during the shooting.

What everyone should know and keep in mind is, that family always comes first, It’s the best back bone and support anyone could get.

Family and friends were my team who helped me accomplish this project and give it birth to real life.

For these reasons, I wanted to take the chance and thank them for everything.

Couldn’t make it without you by my side.

Credits Production Designer: Mia Maria Mikhail

Model:

Olivia Yacoub

Cinematography: DOP Studio

Editing and Color Grading: DOP Studio

Sound Design: Addison Gazal

Stylist:

Mia Maria Mikhail

Stunt Double: Yorgo Franjeh

Special Thanks: Sara Sozzani Maino Stefano Guerrini Federico Morgantini Belinda Hallal Doris Ibrahim Fidaa Salem George Andraos George Salem Masssaad Mikhail Mathew Mikhail Odette Salem Rosa Sawan