Thesis Process Work
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and since I was very little I always felt very out of place in the Midwest. This connected me from an early age to my Great Grandma Ursula, who I called “Nana.” She came to live in Cincinnati with my Grandpa and her husband Frank after fleeing her native Berlin out of fear of their fate under the Nazi regime as Jews.
She was very shameful and always avoided discussing her past life in Berlin that was so traumatically ripped away, but never changed to fit into the Midwest, and never shied away from standing out amongst the mundane. Surroudning herself with a misfit group of gay, art and fashion loving intellectuals, she constructed a community for herself that transcended her closeminded surroundings, which exposed me to queerness and creativity as a small child.
The visual inspiration for my collection draws from points of shared inspiration between me and my Nana like German silent and classic films, Expressionist and Surrealist art, and historical luxury fashion. Beyond these, I also have a small body of my Nana’s fashion illustration work from when she attended school for fashion in the 20’s. They are very classically 1920’s, and as my design identity tends to relate to 80’s fashion, I want to look at ways I can reference these very different periods of fashion history that show two polarized views of androgyny simultaneously, to create a new look with unique silhouettes.
My greater goal with my collection is to pay homage to my Great Grandma and the person she has allowed me to become by marrying our worlds with clothes that are vibrant, theatrical, androgynous, and unafraid to take up space or be loud in their surroundings. I want this collection to be very fantastical, evoke joy, and speak to how I view my German heritage, while being universal and inclusive to all sizes and genders.
“At times-being among my friends of my-second-or even third life . . . I feel very lonely-not really belonging ever again- a strange bird.”
