About me
The pandemic quarantine gave me time to reflect on what I was doing with my life. So I took this time to work on myself to grow personally and professionally, teaching myself how to once again sew, make patterns, create clothing, design, and draw by intentionally focusing on learning specific techniques.
I followed my intuition and took the leap. I gave up my apartment, sold all my belongings, and traveled Europe and Africa with a mini sewing machine from June 2022 onwards. I lived in Marrakesh for 2 months, leading a cross-language multicultural team to make clothing. After traveling the Mediterranean in early 2023 I made my home base London, teaching myself AI fashion design creation as well as diversifying and integrating various design facets so they all build upon one another.
Today my design process is not only multidisciplinary but also informed from experience that goes beyond what a traditional path can give you.
Manifesto
Design should enhance and uplift. Its lines should always be thinking,
how it interacts with the body, where it draws the eye to, what it evokes in the viewer, why it exists, who is best suited for it, what is best utilized in conjunction with it.
Manifesto
Fashion design is the architecture of the body, the math of the being.
There’s movement and intentionality and flow that work together. There should always be a conversation between designer and wearer. The lines exist to support and uplift the whole, supporting the wearer in allowing them to feel their best when expressing their identity through what they’re wearing.
I design with
Tenets
Inspiration comes from everywhere when we are fully present & pay attention.
Everything has a pure essence that can be distilled down to amplify its beauty.
Everything can be enhanced intentionally to clarify its true form & meaning.
Design only has to account for the lines of the subject it is being an object for.
Just because something is or isn’t doesn’t mean it should or shouldn’t.
Take chances & step outside comfort zones to find growth.
Even the simplest creation should make the consumer feel good about themselves.
Inspiration
The following is a non-comprehensive list in no particular order of what inspires me when I design. I often am inspired by the shape, curve, and movement of things, but these are the specific things that inspire me.
Rebel Without A Cause, Don’t Worry Darling, Tate Modern & Tate Britain, Capote’s ‘Swans’, Bladerunner, Gerhard Richter, The Talented Mr Ripley, Franken-architecture, 1970s home decor modernized, flavored seltzer, the miracle berry, Slim Aarons
Damien
UNEXPECTED
Inspiration comes from everywhere when we are fully present & pay attention
The best things in my life have come from embracing the unexpected. By buying an unplanned plane ticket to Europe via a timely opportunity after having a dream about my future led me on a 2 year journey of finally following my passion, fashion.
In the same vein, when designing I pay attention to things that seemingly come out of the blue. Inspiration can and does come from anywhere.
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Inspiration
Bladerunner
Damien
MINIMIZE
Everything has a pure essence that can be distilled down to amplify its beauty
Downsizing my life into two boxes and two bags led me to analyze everything in my reality & whether it best serves its ultimate purpose. This translates into evaluating and editing designs in distilling creations down to their core expression. To minimize is to be free, and there is power in that freedom.
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Inspiration
Slim Aarons photography & The Talented Mr Ripley
Damien
MAXIMIZE
Everything can be enhanced intentionally to clarify its true form & meaning
Intentionality is important. When you create room in you & your creations you now have the room to be intentional about adding things in in a very focused way that doesn’t feel cluttered. Maximalism is the yin to minimalism’s yang. Both can exist at the same time together, but it takes intention and attention to detail to do so.
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Inspiration
Modernized 1970s interior design
Damien
EXPANSIVE
Design only has to account for the lines of the subject it is being an object for
When it comes to clothing all we have to obey are the lines of the body that set us apart and bring us together. Having personally discovered the changing nature of gender firsthand, the one thing that doesn’t change about me daily is my body shape.
The liberating part of clothing is knowing that it’s all fabric & notions that can be worn by anyone no matter how it is marketed. The only true test is if it fits you mind, body, and soul.
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Inspiration
Rebel Without A Cause & The Outsiders
Damien
QUESTION
Just because something is or isn’t doesn’t mean it should or shouldn’t
I’ve always questioned everything when it comes to my life & designing. If there’s an answer it will be found, as it wants to be found.
After being told in school that it wasn’t possible to make pants without a side or center seam I created a pair of pants with just a spiral seam and proved my professor wrong. She put a challenge in front me for me to question everything I thought I knew about creating, so now I put the challenge in front of myself every time I create.
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Inspiration
Bladerunner
Damien
EXPERIMENT
Take chances & step outside comfort zones to find growth
I realized early on in my current journey that I learn through experimentation, mistakes and failure. Accepting that not everything needs to be perfect for it to have value is important. Not everything needs to result in an immediate solution. Everything has its own place and timeline in the grand scheme of things, especially in creation.
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Inspiration
Franken-architecture
Damien
ELEVATE
Even the simplest creation should make the consumer feel good about themselves
Traveling the world has shown me that one of the things that ties us together is the need for comfort as well as wanting to look and feel good. We shouldn’t feel like our base default makes us feel less than because we aren’t dressed up. Even our dressed down should make us feel dressed up. When you throw something on it should look and feel effortless in a way that elevates you above all else.
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Inspiration
Don’t Worry Darling
History
Age 10:
Watched fashion shows with my mom & decided I’d either be a fashion designer or a model if I was tall enough. Spoiler: I wasn’t tall enough.
Age 13:
Parents got me a multi-year subscription to 90s menswear magazine Details.
Age 16:
A Fashion Institute of Technology student gave a talk at my high school and asked if anyone wanted to go on an overnight stay with them to see how their school is so I said yes. After I was accepted into their high school Summer program which helped me get into FIT.
Age 18:
Graduated FIT’s accelerated one year fashion design degree program, focusing on evening wear with specialized courses in haute couture sewing.
Beyond:
Attended FIT for communications design degree.
Worked in luxury retail gaining elevated clienteling experience.
Worked as a design assistant at Dollhouse clothing, assisting with resourcing, cataloging, digital and physical patternmaking, and designing.
Had a 15 year career in digital & social media marketing focusing on luxury beauty, fashion, and consumer facing goods.
Thank you for taking the time to view my work.
Looking forward to connecting further.
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