This collection is designed with the free-spirited adventurer in mind. She has no particular destination, and often drives hours off the beaten path just to feel the wind in her hair. The color story is muted and dusty like waking up in the desert. Retreat feels boho, flowy, feminine, vintage-inspired, at times western, and versatile. All she needs is her car; she just throws a few things effortlessly in her bag and hits the road. The collection comes to life with the use of soft wovens, crochet, lace, fringe, shibori prints, denim, and one-of-a-kind embellishments.
An Ode to Iris is my Spring 2014 senior thesis. Iris Apfel has been one of my muses from a very young age. I have always been transfixed with the way she presents herself in intricate garments, piles of jewelry, and iconic oversized glasses. Her clothing and accessory collection is whimsical and bright, and just when she thinks she might be wearing one-too-many pieces of flair—she adds another. She is a self-proclaimed, "geriatric starlet" whose style defies time. Ari Seth Cohen’s “Advanced Style” blog runs parallel to her work, chronicling esoteric senior fashion bubbling up from the street. This thesis imagines a way of dressing for women of all ages that fosters confidence by embracing bold color, whimsy, and adornment, no matter what street you’re on.
American West is a Spring 2015 Americana collection for Target's junior brand, Mossimo Supply Co. The collection is inspired by the "festival girl" who's planning her life around Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. The days are long and hot, and festival-goers are looking for the perfect items to model in photos: floppy felt hats, boho dresses and tops, crop tops, voluminous pants, bandana prints, flower crowns, and Flash Tattoos. This collection attracts the Target junior guest with must-have details at an affordable price, and makes it impossible to leave items behind on the rack.
This is a snapshot of some of the items I designed for Target-owned junior brand, Mossimo Supply Co. The brand is a multi-million dollar business, and one of Target's highest performing ready-to-wear lines. Mossimo is casual, consists of core and fashion items, incorporates specialty washes, textures, must have details, and pairs easily with denim. I contributed to Mossimo Supply Co. knit and woven dresses, and all core knits.
This is a special marketing project I executed on top of my regular apparel design role at Target. The Instagram was an idea I had to influence how Mossimo Supply Co. is presented in Target's social media. I researched popular millenial Instagram accounts, aspirational junior brands social media accounts, and came up with a persona for our customer. I styled and help shoot MSC Fall 2015 product. The end result was an "Instagram Acccount" for our cool girl customer, "River". This visual tool was used at line adoption to help depict seasonal trends, illustrate what collection pieces make trend-right outfits, and model plausible store mannequins. This project was later shared with the marketing team to inspire in-store marketing as well as social media.
Building concept is one of my very favorite parts of designing product. After the trend team breathes new creative energy into a season, we look for inspiration everywhere: boutiques, vintage shops, blogs, instagram, museums, and books. We spend hours in the color library scavenging for the perfect pink hue, and build a carefully crafted color palette. We hang inspiration, mood photos, hours are spent hand beading, glittering, wrapping branches in lights, and creating outfits to help buyers visualize the collection for the season. These are some of my very favorite concept presentations I had the honor to build at Target.
