American Beauty

The inspiration for this collection came in two parts. It's called "American Beauty" because I wanted to focus on all of the people who make America beautiful — no matter who they are or how they identify. We live in what can feel like a very isolating time, where we're being pushed apart for our differences, and I wanted to comment on that with my S/S collection. The second part is color. Inspired by the printing term CMYK — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK — I wanted to use color to represent labels. If I'm "Magenta," let's say, then society already has an idea of what Magenta looks like, what Magenta acts like — and all of those ideas are just imaginary constructs. I wanted to show that Magenta has many faces, many genders, many looks, and so many beautiful aspects we may not be seeing yet. Whether you're Magenta, Yellow, Navy, or Lavender — my own brutal reinterpretation of the printing code — there is so much more beauty and magic to be found in others. And when we paint that picture together, with all of our colors, we create our American story: our American Beauty.