After reading and researching the tales about the Library of Alexandria (LOA), I fell in love with the story. My mind envisioned a young woman being madly in love with a library, staying up late into the night because she was so captivated by her books. I wanted to explore the history of clothing similar to the expansion of knowledge that this person gained while reading her books. From a toga to a white collared shirt, as intellect transitioned so has style. The preliminary sketches of the LOA collection allowed me to explore shapes and dimensions while telling the story. Without a clear path, these sketches were my first ideas when researching. I hope to come back to this one day.
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Inspired by some of my interests, including the Library of Alexandria, Alexander McQueen’s 1999 spring/ summer collection, evolution, and the process of the toga transforming into the white collared shirt, I created a mood board with fabric samples, runway archives, and objects that inspired me.
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Using my inspirations, these six designs tell the story of a young woman's journey first entering the Library of Alexandria and then being transformed by knowledge and evolving into a confident woman, which is how I feel every time I pick up a book. I adore reading because it provides the opportunity to transition into a different world. It allows one to take bits and pieces of topics of interest, goals, and character traits, and learn and incorporate them into a world you would like to create for yourself.. The evolution to transform into the best version of yourself, even while facing challenges, inspires this collection.
The idea to do a mechanical dress came from Alexander McQueen's 1999 spring/summer collection called “No. 13,” which showcased Shalom Harlow, a trained ballerina, who walked out onto the runway and a spinning wheel while being “attacked” by two vintage car paint-spraying robots. The use of technology and performance-making fashion inspired me to incorporate it into my design. The beginning of wanting to make a dress that automatically moves led me to research small motors. With the help of my school’s robotics teacher, a family friend engineer, and a lot of experimentation, I achieved the prototype. Simultaneously trying to pull in my love for the LOA and its history, I sewed pintucks and experimented with different sizes to create an impression of book spines and the pages within a book. The total fabric length was eight feet before being sewn! For the opposite side of the bodice, book spines were recycled to illustrate how they could be stacked on top of one another. The history of the library being burnt down twice is the inspiration for the performance I envision for the mechanical skirt: Planned were layers of fabric and other contraptions going up and down, representing the idea that knowledge can be revealed or hidden—gained or lost—in just an instant.
