About Me
I am a budding fashion designer who celebrates complexity & quirkiness
I’m currently studying for a BA Hons in Fashion in South Africa. I am interested in gender-non-prescriptive fashion design conceptualization, pattern-making, product development, illustration (hand drawings and digital), textiles (embellishment, manipulation), visual merchandising and compositing images on Photoshop.
I love history, musical theatre, science fiction, ethnic/heritage aesthetics, contemporary art and craft. I love the complex and the multi-layered, the irregular and the contrasting, the outside and the inbetween. If it seems too much, then perhaps let’s add more! My creative style is dense-in-details, dramatic, technically eclectic, improvised and imperfect. It is inspired by a fictional tribe of creative & subtly subversive Chai-drinking urban nomads navigating the complex planes of identity and challenging the notions of acceptability.
INSPIRATION
It's not about menswear or womenswear, it's about what YOU-WEAR. See differently. See me, see you.
The work of dress is to offer agency & freedom. This work is based on the New Mythologies trend of Americana Archive & Local crafts. You-Wear is about transcending binaries in gender & beyond. This was developed to add to the chorus of global narratives that subvert proportions, shapes, details and gendered codes of Urban Americana wardrobe staples through a rustic and contemporary Queer African lens. This is an invitation to build inclusive & celebratory moments through quirky fashion.
Layered inspiration from Shona sculpture to Queer culture & Americana clothing informed the vision. My African heritage holds multiple layers of meaning needing to be set free through interaction with other dimensions of my identity, like queerness and my approach to self-expression. My heritage and identity needed a new perspective from which to reflect how I am in the world and how I would like to see the world clothed – in delightfully quirky designs peppered with all manner of embellishment.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Illustrated range at a glance
Trend analysis and concept development
Design development rough sketches
Sample making and design refinement
Trims and details
Product development outline
Product development outline
Design technical board
Design technical board
Design technical board
Agency
Fluidity
Freedom
Future
DETAIL
You-Wear is line, shape, silhouette, contrast, colour, texture, cutouts and Afro-rustic trims
Exploration of future-facing shapes & details for common garments, that are exotic, liberating and yet enabling a new experience of belonging for those who might find their home in the in-between. These forms and details incorporate curved panel lines, knee darts, raglan sleeves, comfortably oversized and layered silhouettes that offer visual interest via body revealing cut-outs and adjustable waist fit. Western sensibilities are contrasted with bold African prints as linings and bindings, rustic crafted ethnic decorative elements as felt and scrap fabric appliques on quilted panels creating visual emphasis & interest. I used of natural fabrics of cotton, wool & viscose that are comfortable to wear, packaging them as distinctive designs. Â Significantly, cut-outs are used to highlight parts of the body that appear similar in any gender; notably shoulders, thighs and backs. They also stand as a metaphor for inviting both the viewer and the wearer to be simultaneously vulnerable and bold.
My aspiration is to bring a sense of delight and wonder through my eclectic creations and ultimately lead to empowered expression and storytelling
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