Monday, February 22, 2010

the thing about succulents is that they store the water they need in their leaves and use it sparingly using only what is necessary to survive. I feel this is the inspiration for spring summer 2011- this storage and necessity.



Sunday, February 21, 2010

some good advice

the act of being weighed down

I called my spring 2010 collection "caution to the wind" i suppose it was a conscious effort to muster some courage as I push forward through difficult times. Despite my best efforts, I sometimes feel like this....









images by Robert and Shana Parkeharrison

Sunday, February 14, 2010

crossing over



I have an unconventional pantheon of gods, muses, and patron saints of artistic mediums. Music is always a huge part of the creative process for me, and visual installation work always gets me going. I love a good show, and I am always on the lookout for a multi-media extravaganza that will bombard my senses. In terms of inspiration, I rarely look at what other designers comes up with season to season, as I like to keep my own perspective fresh and not become too weighed down by what I "should" be making or what color palette is "in". That being said, every season I have consistently looked forward to the artistic spectacle that Alexander McQueen would come up with. The cuts, the digital prints, the style, the story. It is very sad to know that I will no longer have the pleasure of taking in a new collection by Mr. McQueen. He truly was a rare soul, a mystical magician, a tortured talent. he will be missed, and fashion will be far less amazing in his absence. Shine on you crazy diamond...

Turning my attentions toward the show that must go on, I am always pleased to see what the extremely talented Gary Graham comes up with season to season. He is not only an alum of SAIC, as am I, but I also had the great pleasure of working for him as a young star - eyed fashion student. His work is always insanely theatrical and lovely. His combination of hard and soft always gets me. His respect for the past and his eye towards the future strikes the perfect balance for dressing up...

Here are a few images I pulled off of style.com of his latest Fall 2010 collection. I think it is dark and innocent all at once.





Tuesday, February 9, 2010

a mossy forest...

a path in costa rica:



a sneak peak of fall 2010


It is somewhat ironic that Jason Robinette (my good friend and an extremely talented photographer) and I started talking about creating a moss environment for the fall 2010 collection to inhabit for the lookbook photo shoot, because directly after our initial discussion I left for Costa Rica for some much needed rest. Costa Rica is covered in prehistoric moss and it really made me excited to get home and shoot fall. I was also extremely inspired by the Olafur Eliasson exhibit that was up at the MCA here in Chicago over the summer and into the fall of 2009.
There was an entire room devoted to a wall covered in reindeer moss in the exhibit. It smelled so lovely and over the duration of the exhibit, the moss changed in color. It was so beautiful and filled me with a deep sense of hope. The mossy space felt very magical, and I wanted to capture that feeling in my fall 2010 collection. So i set off to find some moss.
My gal Michelle Gaona works over at the prestigious Kehoe event design company here in Chicago (talking AMAZING $50,000.00 weddings etc.). She totally hooked me up with these two 10 foot by 5 foot foam core walls that were somewhat covered in moss, but I ended up buying like 4 more boxes of moss, and a box of neon green- the actual natural color of it- reindeer moss! So my amazing intern, Guilliana and I set to work with hot glue guns and made an entire moss environment out of glue, moss, and old cardboard boxes. I think the mossy greens and the pop of chartruese reindeer moss really played well off of the wines and deep plums.





box full of reindeer moss:


Guilliana working on the moss wall:


Jason lighting the set:


Colleenie weenie conjuring hair and makeup magic:


My two muses: Colleen and Marisa (who inspired half the collection and helped style)


a look from the shoot:


a full look from fall 2010: