The 90s Aspirational American Dream

As a womenswear designer, I mostly focus on streetwear often drawing inspiration from sportswear styles for innovative techniques and traditionally masculine silhouettes translated onto the female figure. In my collection I drew inspiration from sportswear in 90s streetwear culture, to produce a womenswear up-cycled collection reflective of this predominantly masculine area of fashion. My inspiration has particularly focused on 90s New York influences, such as the Lo-Life gang who expressed how luxury sportswear symbolised the aspirational American dream and connected them to this other lifestyle very far from their own. Reducing the environmental impact my production has on the environment is a core value to my design practice. My collection is produced from upcycled men's sportswear jackets, vintage satin scarves and dead-stock sports fabric. I found using existing textile resources to be the least impactful method and helped to reduce any contribution to landfill waste.