Samurai Ballerina

I am one of 10 fashion designers competing in the "Beyond the Armor" fashion challenge sponsored by the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Garment Guild.  We were given a private tour of the facinating "Beyond the Armor" Samurai exhibit at the DIA, and challenged to design garments inspired by what we learned and saw.

Here is my final design!

I was inspired by 'Reeds and Cranes," a silk painted folding screen painted by Suzuki Kiitsu.  He was trained by a powerful Samurai artist named Sakai Hoitsu, who adopted him and elevated him to the elite Samurai class. 

*Escape*

My dresses are featured in an Elléments Magazine spread this month!  

Hello Toledo!

My Magnolia Necklace and Dress were recently displayed in the Toledo Museum of Art's "Art of Japanese Fashion" exhibit.  The museum issued a fashion challenge for designers to create a garment inspired by their current exhibition, 

"Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints".

The dress is inspired by the magical "flower and willow world" that geishas are said to inhabit.  The necklace is made from (*suprise!*) kozo, a fiber used in traditional Japanese paper-making.

This dress was on display from September until December,

when the exhibition ended with a fashion show finale!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Fashion + Animals + Music 

= The Caftan Dress!

Esperanza Spalding performed in this dress with Wayne Shorter and the Nashville Symphony in April. For this special Earth Day performance, her stylist added moss and violet embellishment.   The outfit is featured on Esperanza's Style Blog.

The September(/October) Issue

I'm featured in Ambassador Magazine this month!  I had so much fun talking to Audrey LaForest during my interview about my past and current work.  Check me out page 59 of the September/October issue! 

Notice the triple-vision photo of me?  I got to work with two of my favorite people for this photoshoot. 

Michigan F.A.S.H. Fest 2013

This is about to be a really long post...with lots of pictures!

My designs were featured last Friday in the Michigan F.A.S.H. Fest, a wonderful yearly event hosted by Leslie Pilling of Presence II Productions.  The festival is an amazing collaboration of local business, musicians, and artists.  For more information, check out their website! http://michiganfashfest.com/

So here are pictures from the show!  There are links under some of the photos to posts with additional information about the garments.

Local Love

The Magnolia Necklace is on the cover of Styleline Magazine this month!  

So excited to represent Detroit in the local designers issue.  

Magnolia Necklace - kozo fiber and chain

Barnacle Dress -  kozo fiber and raw silk

Leather Paaaants

I got to collaborate with NYC jewelry designer Alex Streeter in a photo shoot for his most recent lookbook, photographed by Easton Schirra.  Featured were the Titanic Dress and pair of leather pants I custom-made for this shoot, seen below!

For more information on this dress, click here.

Michigan Style!

Oh my gosh I have so much to write about!  

Last month I had the honor of being featured in Styleline Magazine:

I was also part of the NOiR fashion show at the University of Michigan.  The event supported Food Gatherers, an Ann Arbor organization that works to alleviate hunger in the community.

I'll Huff and I'll Puff...

...and blow 2012 away!

I was featured in an article in the Huffington Post this week, you can check it out here!

So excited to show these pictures of three of my newest dresses.
The New Years Eve themed photo shoot was shot by Lindee Robinson at the Peacock Room Boutique. 

Swept Away

This has been such a dramatic month!  

I experienced my very first hurricane and then moved back to Michigan, all within a week.

I sketched the idea for this dress in NYC while I was hiding from Hurricane Sandy in my friend Fiona's apartment.

Without Limits

Or at least it feels that way...Esperanza Spalding performed in my Marie Antoinette jacket Austin, Texas at the Austin City Music Festival on Friday!  I love this picture of her!

Photo by Matt Ellis

Working it Out

Happy fall!  Here's what's been going on in New York:

I finished my internship at Diane Von Furstenburg.  Being able to see the Spring/Summer 2013 collection develop from start to finish was amazing, such an wonderful way to spend the summer!  

Sewing night away before the runway show

Oh you know...DVF and I...most exciting moment ever!

The whole gang at the fashion show after party

The Barnacle Dress in Tokyo!

What in the world?  One of my dresses made it to Asia!

Esperanza Spalding performed in the Barnacle Dress in Tokyo, Japan this week!

This Titanic-inspired dress is made from kozo fiber and hand-dyed raw silk.  

You can find more information about in earlier posts...here and also here, and below you can see the process of making the dress from start to finish!

New York New Dress

I bought this dress for $10 at thrift store and gave it a makeover!  

This is the first dress I've made in New York! I don't have a machine here yet so it was all done by hand.