As the youngest child of four (even though I am a twin, I am the younger twin), I am an observant person. Over the years, I have become a listener and a watcher, as I could never get a word in being in a family of six people. I think this shaped me as a person and a designer—I observe, listen, and take in my surroundings. The need to explore, the ability to listen, and watch—these elements shape me and are central to my identity and story.
Story is a driving factor for my designs. I want to create designs that tell a story and are based on characters, scenes, and places. Because of this, travel is integral to who I am and to what my designs reference. Growing up near New York City, I have become accustomed to the fast-paced lifestyle and culture around me, but I yearn to travel to foreign places and mix different cultural elements from my explorations. Wherever I go, I seek adventure through learning about food, culture, people, and anything I come across.
Above all else, I want to have fun and be happy, so my designs reflect this sentiment. I use color often because I think it relays mood and allows me to create the happy and energetic feeling I want my designs to emulate. I think fashion can be serious, but that it should be viewed as a way of expressing and creating happiness that others can enjoy and relate to. Through my designs, I hope to have a positive impact and create a lighthearted and adventurous feeling among the consumers of my brand. When I think of the type of designs that I create, I think they can be silly and quirky, adding a sense of fun and vibrancy to the world around me. Personally, my ideal world would play up people’s imperfections, and embrace the silliness of life in an uplifting way.
In a contrast to the fun and happy side of my designs, I find myself interested in traditions and customs—whether they are from my family or countries across the world. Research is important in my work because it allows me to explore traditions for example through textile and silhouettes. With tradition, I like to update heritage ideas and customs to create new ideas through my personal design lens. An example of this would be incorporating preppy and traditional textiles like tweeds and ginghams and traditional silhouettes like blazers and classic neckties in a collection using fun and quirky prints and colors to give the traditions a new meaning and story.
Many of the stories that I think of are based off of notions of nostalgia from my childhood. I draw many ideas from my childhood or the idea of being free and living in the clouds. Through this idea, children are a large source of my inspiration because in my mind, they are liberated and free of the confines of reality As a result, my designs and ideas take inspiration not only from fantasy, but also from childhood books, cartoons, characters, bright colors, and pop culture.
Additionally, I take new ideas from the world around me as I experience it or from research. Learning so much about food from my sister who is a chef, for example, has broadened my interest in food preparation and influenced my designs greatly because of newfound knowledge on the subject.
I also take inspiration from street style looks that disregard public opinion and push innovations and new ideas through combination of new materials and ideas. Sometimes, my ideas and my interests are simple and rooted in nostalgia, but other times, they go back to traditional techniques or new fabrications and ideas. I think that my ideas run the gamut, but that each idea refers back to the idea of being shaped by the world around me and by constantly exploring as well as experiencing life in a lighthearted perspective.
