Substrata

Inspiration

Collaboration

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Substrata began with a visit to Mercer Caverns in central California and an obsession with the beauty created by the natural process of a limestone drip over immense periods of time. These mineral deposits and gradual erosion inspired this collection, and how something can become beautiful without ever being intended to. Sculptural boned structures, corsetry, layered surfaces, and organic silhouettes translate these geological forms onto the body. Named for the layers of earth built slowly through accumulation, Substrata reflects a process of experimentation, transformation, and growth. The garments imagine a world of cave-dwelling forms, raw, strange, muddied, and shaped by natural forces. These bring an unseen, underground beauty into the light.

Collaboration was an essential part of the development of Substrata. I worked with Justin Federico, who hand-dyed and printed the collection’s prepared-for-dye cottons, and Katelyn Knapp, who hand crystalized tulle and more a borax formula techniques. Their processes became part of the design itself, with each textile later being redraped, boned, and combined with the crystallized elements. The collection evolved through this exchange of ideas and materials, allowing each collaborator’s craft to shape the final garments.

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