Emotive Sincerity

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Emotive Sincerity was born out of both primary and secondary research; from lived experience and trend analysis. Intangible matter — thoughts and feelings — became tangible expressions you can feel with your hands and your heart.

Paper and fabric were readily accessible places I could explore and express the difficult matter I was absorbing as a trend strategist, but also as a person navigating the multidimensional realities of our current age. As a society, we have reached a breaking point for mental health awareness. Just take a look at the news, your family, your community— this is no secret. It’s a pressing issue that transgresses all races and cultures. If it’s not someone you know within the first degree, it’s you.

But the dawn is here, and the light slowly illuminating a world of uncharted inner-territory. We are awakening from the daze of the generations-old tale that this state is the hum-drum status quo, only to realize we all grew up on a steady diet of suppression. Without a healthy vehicle or language through which to express emotion, our internal and external worlds are crumbling. Not to mention, we are at the mercy of an ever-changing digital landscape that is seemingly void of true human connection. Can we say, that we are more in-touch with a little glass and metal rectangle, than we are with our own selves?

Now is the time to create space in the air and in our hearts for honest, open conversations about the human experience— the messy journey of this thing we call life, to release the harmful taboos of mental struggle. Through the outlet of art, we can pivot from isolated pain to collective healing.

Thus, this collection is the beginning of that personal journey for me as both an artist and person. I work through recognizing, analyzing and shedding the layers of expectation around the creative process. I acknowledge my ongoing battles with perfectionism and anxiety, while holding space for similar struggles within my community of loved ones and fellow artists. I made sense of what I was feeling by pouring tangled webs out of my mind, onto paper, then woven into fabric. The work became a form of therapy. It sparked conversations with family, close friends, new friends, professors, strangers online and in-person— the garments became a vessel through which healing could flow freely, and not just for myself. The pieces grew to be so much more than mere fabric, they are living art; they breath in the pain of many and exhale their stories to begin healing in so many more.

As the creative director and designer, my hope is that this project invites you in and urges you to take a seat. To stop, get quiet. Get curious.

Listen to the stirrings of your soul.

What is moving beneath the surface, what are you really feeling? Who were you before the world told you who you are?

You are safe here. You are wanted here.

You are loved.

Pick up the pen, the paint brush, the microphone, the sewing needle—

and be.