Walking into her room is like entering a warm treasure chest of precious keepsakes and childhood toys. Not a single opportunity for visual expression is left unused. Every object oozes personality, from the yellow-faced puppet hanging from the ceiling to the layers of white knits, to the popsicle sticks she had draped on her dress form. The gem of her room is her wardrobe, which is filled with prizes from exploring charity shops, precious handmade pieces, and sentimental objects lovingly re-possessed from her mother.
“I don’t know why I love colours,” she says. “I just do, they make me happy, I guess. I couldn’t ever wear an entirely black outfit. I have all these great pieces from my mum in her wilder days. It’s so sad that when people get older, they kind of shy away from wearing things that are too loud. Everyone starts to wear the same things. I think uniqueness is very important.”
The objects in her room each tell an interesting story, echoing the play in clashing references and the love of handwork found in her designs. “My summer project was an outfit inspired by lawn furniture,” she tells me. It was knitted with white, cream and light yellow yarns, with popsicle sticks and pops of red paint, to set off the combination. Consolidating the plethora of ideas, sketches and references bursting out of her sketchbook, the design resonated 50’s hotdog stands or dutiful husbands grilling on lush backyards in suburban America.
