ITAA Projects

In the spring of 2023, during the last quarter of my first year of graduate school, we were encouraged to take one of our past works and reimagine and recontextualize it for the International Textile and Apparel Association graduate competition. I chose my project The Fallout, a project from earlier in the year we were tasked with imagining a world, creating a character, and then making the clothing they would need to inhabit their world.

I imagined a post-apocalyptic world where everything had burned and humans were surviving by scavenging excavated landfill pits. These pits were full of plastic trash that persisted despite total environmental collapse.

I recontextualized this project to look at current consumption patterns in the United States. I looked first at sneakers, and how they are designed to last only a handful of months before they are discarded into landfills. I also looked into the amount of trash that the average American adult produces in 8 days, ending up in landfills. It is a staggering 39lbs. It was through this lens that I was able to remake both of these designs for the competition.

Both Designs were selected as finalists for the 2023 ITAA conference where they were on display and were judged by a panel of industry professionals. The Shoe Dress won the University of Fashion - Alvanon Sustainability Award for the entire conference.

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