When I was 16 years old, I got the opportunity to attend RISD’s (Rhode Island School of Design) pre-college program in Providence. For six weeks, I took college level courses guided towards foundational arts and fashion design. In my main course—Introduction to Fashion Design—I learned many design principles and techniques.
This project, which I call “Shredded Vogue Poncho,” was featured in the RISD “Paperama” fashion show at the end of my time there.
The guidelines for the project were simple—design a garment, and construct it using only paper. I had never sewn, much less constructed an entire garment using alternative materials. Rather than focusing on mapping out patterns for my look, I decided that the silhouette of my look would be simple—focusing, instead, on movement and texture.
I eventually designed a poncho made from shredded Vogue magazines. Seeing as how I hadn’t yet learned to sew, I decided to craft a skeleton from chicken-wire. On top of this, I layered paper mache so that I could attach each individual strip cut from my magazines. After all was said and done, five layers of evenly cut magazine strips covered my chicken-wire / paper mache skeleton.
Looking back on this piece, I see the genesis of my own design philosophy forming. The fact that I had no technical knowledge—in terms of garment construction—pushed me to focus on textiles and how they moved on the body. It was in constructing this garment that I gained a true appreciation for textiles, manipulation, and the context which I put them in.
I am a skilled technical designer with a background that has given me a unique perspective on the world around me, as well as how I draw inspiration from it.
