BurdaStyle

This dress has a dropped waist that features a flared fishtail hem, open back, semi-cap sleeves, and black bias taping. The material is a silver foiled stretch velvet that gives the hem of the dress wonderful movement.

I chose the artist Zao Wou-Ki as inspiration for my collection for this year’s show. He was a Chinese artist who traveled to Paris to pursue art on his own terms. The abstract paintings he created start as chaos and then become form, often mirroring the act of creation itself. It was in his paintings that celebrate life, that my spiritual collection, “The Fine Line,” was created. This collection discusses the thin border between life and death and why we should be celebrating the human spirit everyday.

Using one of Zao Wou-Ki’s untitled paintings I created my color palette and then hand painted some of my fabrics in his style. I wanted this collection to focus on wearable creativity. My collection takes lady-like silhouettes and gives them a quirky twist. This final undergrad collection was an exploratory and personal journey for me created with a lot of love, curiosity, and expression.

Photograph by Mike Burgess (Mikeburgessphoto.com)