social studies
I wrote and designed a class.
One day, I just sat down and started typing, and typing and typing some more. I had no grand idea of what I was starting. I just needed to write. Taylor Swift had just released folklore; I had just been laid off with the onset of COVID. I needed to work, to create, to fix something, to offer a solve. I didn’t leave my desk for hours. Swift’s album on repeat, coffee refills on the reg and mental therapy to a situation I was trying to emotionally recover from.
Losing my creative team was the biggest blow of the whole ordeal. It is, they are, what got me out of bed in the morning from a work point of view. We had formed this collective of creative souls who shared a vision to move the world forward. We loved product, but we loved stories to the people more. We craved change; we curated a design community. It was one of the best groups of humans I have ever had the privilege of working with. It was never work, it was just what we did, everyday. Music always on. Coffee and treats always at the shared table. Endless books, millions of ideas. Never enough time in the day. We used our art as a catalyst, and we used our passions to purposefully create product. It was truly a dream.
One thing I have always loved is working with students and leading teams. When 9/11 happened I met with my lovely advisor, Phyllis at MSU, and let her know I was changing majors. Fashion was out, and Kindergarten Teaching was in. I asked to pull my admissions at FIT the following year. I was NOT going to New York. I was NOT going to do fashion. Naturally, and thankfully, she told me we would revisit this conversation in Spring. I told her I wasn’t changing my mind.
That August, I moved to New York to attend FIT.
My dream.
I started my career 2 years later and took interest in learning everything. Being a student has always been a joy. I never wanted to stop. I still take classes on my favorite subjects: Art, Drawing and French. A lifelong student. I knew I had to combine these passions. What I learned from this “dream team,” was that we all shared the curiosity of a greater vision. What were the catalysts? What was the purpose behind the painting? Why this shade of green and not a blue green? WHY?! It became our start to every concept. Every meeting. Blank white sheets of poster paper. Black Sharpies in a pile. No idea off limits. Everyone welcome at our table. Zeitgeists, people, places and passions… the WHY to lead us to next. I have had the incredible fortunate of travel to places that have also made me question almost everything. I became eager, driven and purposeful to each of our projects. Enough with the same. What is the original? What really was our pulse to a concept? I wasn’t in the business to just copy other designers. I wanted our own story. Our own product, our own handwriting. Reference points to expand our knowledge. And I wanted the next generation to know this, learn this, write this and lead with this. Enough of the carbon copies. What’s your own story? What is your own brand story? Surely one must stand for something.
And that’s why this class was born.
What were the ingredients to make a concept come to life? What were the factors that played into our decisions? It was never about just looking at so-and-so’s collection and reinterpreting to a lower price point. It was understanding how it starts with a customer and goes to the concept. The history, the research, the protests, the weather, nothing was off the table. I was pulling articles. History reports. Ordering books to understand these catalysts. I was starving for more information. What narrative were you telling and how were the cast of characters playing? The plot, the settings, the good, the bad and all the in-between. I had more than enough information and the mission to teach the next generation. Here is how a brand tells a story, with their customer, with the pulse of the world, the marketing… the well-told story. It is not just a dress. It is not just stuff. It is not just cerulean blue.
15 weeks. A final gallery showing Process Journals. A Brand Project. This would be the class.
I met with my first University and some dear professors I have stayed in touch with all these years. I needed to share my passion project. I wanted this class to be the way forward. Create a dialogue in the fashion, marketing and advertising world. Create change through art and voice. Lead the next wave and recover from the dark year of 2020. It has been one of the most rewarding “concepts” I have ever created and I can’t wait to meet the students on a weekly basis to converse, imagine and re-think this industry.
Just when it felt there was a vacancy of ideas… they arrived with a gusto of purpose. Thank you Taylor for giving me a soundtrack to this class. Thank you to Dr. Good, Dr. Huddleston, Ross and Dr. Mastin for believing in this project. Thank you to my concept teams and creative visionaries that continue to inspire me daily.
You know the greatest films of all time were never made- Taylor Swift
Let’s change that.
