Late last year I submitted designs to the Memphis Fashion Week Emerging Designer showcase, and got accepted! Riding my costuming high from DragonCon, and filling the gap in my life from costume down time, I created a collection based heavily on more “geek” centered themes. I really wanted to show that nerd-culture inspiration can still be fashionable and innovative without being redundant.

Here’s my submission:
Designer statement:
This collection is inspired by the strong women in video games and comic books. However, rather than create cat suits and body-baring clothes, I wanted the collection to project confidence and strength – to empower while being easy to wear. Working with the Spring, 2014 palette, I chose colors that reflect another world, inspired by the colors of nebulas and the “Twilight Realm” from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess video game. The results are strong, sassy, and smart. I plan to use fabrics that can easily be worn and cared for. I plan to use Supplex (a sportswear fabric with some body) along with twill (both stretch and non stretch), and knits. The pieces will also incorporate mesh fabrics. I will keep my collection fresh and modern through interesting piecework and lines, mixing newer technology fabric with more traditional materials.

Mood board

Sketches

I unified the collection by using black mesh on each look, and spent a lot of time playing with dyes and hand stitching linings.

In March, my styles went down the catwalk. I may not have won, but I did find that melding the worlds of High Fashion and geek culture (sans copyright infringement) was a very real possibility.