As a senior standing at the threshold of a concluding chapter, I find myself weighing the eras of my life and the motives that constructed the person I am today. I question if my artistic path was preordained, or if an intrinsic dysphoria urges me to make choices that satisfy a desire for self-actualization?  The Empire of Fashion and African American Arts: Activism, Aesthetics, and Futurity notions of intimately curating your person struck me as deeply profound,  as I view identity not as a static state, but as a perpetual evolution. The way we dress is not merely covering, but a powerful tool for transformation.

This work posits that discomfort is not merely a negative emotion but a necessary friction that propels us toward our ideal selves. Inspired by Afrofuturist ideals of reimaging histories untouched and Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis exploration of the self manifesting as a corporeal thing, I aim to capture the physical sensation of change in clothing. This body of work is a cosmopolitan bricolage, a melting pot of aesthetics that synthesizes the “colors of me” as a designer, reminiscent of Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber's concept of the Bedroom culture phenomenon, where the way one collages their bedroom across various mediums showcases their innermost selves. It draws from the art of collaging as an intimate manifestation of the innermost parts of oneself and entangles with a cosmopolitan way of dressing that is the synthesis of experiences of interconnectedness of the 21st-century world that affects my fashion. The zeitgeist: the theatrical reveals of queer Ballroom culture, the deconstruction of 80s fashion, Yves Saint Laurent’s 70s Orientalism, and the transformative narratives found in pop culture, and my many inspirations for creation that propel and urge me. Unearthing my motivations for design through daily “field logs” has revealed the bricolage nature of my style, artistic hand, and history with textiles.

My design methodology mirrors my introduction to fashion as a digital native. Growing up, I engaged with the industry through the screen, obsessively screenshotting diverse aesthetics from YouTube and social media to catalog in digital journals. I mimicked these trends by manipulating hand-me-downs, pin-rolling denim legs to transform uninspired pants into something expressive. That youthful yearning to curate a worldly, modern identity from limited resources has matured into a sophisticated practice of high-contrast, intentional clashing. I am treating textiles like a collaged image, merging disparate global references into a cohesive, wearable narrative.

Visually, the collection operates as a three-dimensional mood board come to life. Textural choices echo the theme of folding and unfolding; looks feature pleated, paper-mâché-like surfaces and origami floral elements that suggest a manifest destiny of form. I am drawn to the concept of wrapping and revealing, utilizing excess fabric and bow motifs to symbolize the presentation of the self. To ground this abstract concept in reality, the work reflects the energy of New York City. It celebrates the “uptown-downtown” duality of individuals who have been saturated by the city, whose personal style reflects their own metamorphosis. By interpreting the busy, conflicting, yet beautiful inputs of global culture, this collection serves as a visual journal of becoming, transforming the dysphoria of the past into the self-assured artistry of the present.