Renaître 
The Elevation of Hand Craft
BEST OVERALL SENIOR COLLECTION - UNT 2024

During a current progressive age of technology, many textile and fiber arts are being abandoned or modified to adapt to the innovations of artistry. Although these new technologies bring excitement to the world of creativity, it is tragic to see such beautiful, handcrafted works altered or forgotten in time. My mission for this collection is to take these crafts, and apply them to each piece, creating a stunning central focus of carefully curated details that revive the passion for handcrafted works.

To break away from these hobby crafts original connotations of rainy-day activities and D.I.Y. culture, I have chosen to revitalize the crafts in accompaniment of both garments and accessories. Doing this, I hope to bring a fresh take on these crafts and showcase the true beauty of craft. During this collection, I will be exploring crafts including, needle felting, silk flower making, wool applique, millenary, and a quilting technique known as foundation paper piecing. Each of these medias will make either an exclusive or a collaborative appearance on each garment of my collection.

My style of customer is one who wishes to embody the delicate femininity given by the classic shaped garments of both the 1940’s and 1950s. This customer prefers a modest and simple cut rather than a more revealing and closer fitting garment. In addition to the cut and shape, dense textures and soft colors add to the elegance of the garments.

My primary source of inspiration for this collection is the iconic Madonna Inn, located in my birthplace of San Luis Obispo, California. Opening in 1958, this hotel and restaurant is a maximalist’s paradise. As a little girl, my grandparents would take my sisters and I out to dinner and dancing at the Inn, each of us dressed in our Sunday best. I look back fondly on that venue and have chosen to commemorate the Inn’s eclectic interiors and whimsical exteriors in this collection.