Inspiration
My greatest inspiration is the possibility of manipulating fabric to create unique, interesting garments that express a client’s personality and dreams.
Design inspiration comes primarily from the twentieth century designers who adopted clean, even austere, structural approaches to clothing and its relation to the body and movement. My work draws from, and builds on, those classic designs, with particular emphasis on highlighting garment structure through stitching, piping and use of braiding created from raveled fabric.
For me, textiles are an irresistible inspiration, whether a rustic piece of joined 3-inch strips hand-woven by Saharan Tuareg, a few meters of gold embroidered designer velvet discovered in a Paris street market, or a shimmering silk brocade emerging row by row from a wooden Jacquard loom in the Damascus market.
When I open the door of a fabric shop I see a universe of stars. Colors, designs and textures jump out at me, and the ones I stop to examine trigger ideas: oh! this one could be cut on the bias to create a unique coat! The colors in this one would be pure magic with a particular skirt or jacket! Another jumps from the bolt into my mind as a fabulous evening cape or sweeping skirt! Even when I pull out a random group of fabrics from my collection, I feel electric interactions between specific fabrics in the pile, begging me to create something that brings them together.
Both inspiration and challenge, the consummate skill required to fabricate a garment of excellent quality is a source of great satisfaction, whether I am putting in a hem by hand with hundreds of tiny stitches catching only one thread, or completing a perfect bound buttonhole on a fully vented jacket sleeve.