Fashion in Response

Celebration is a word that we have not heard often within the past two years. With the uprising of racial tension in America and the global pandemic that has devastated so many people throughout the world, we have had little time to focus on the brighter side of life.

As artists we have the ability to use our passion and innate connection to our median to create, empower, and move our communities forward, particularly in moments that affect us all so deeply. Art can be created and used as a reflection. It is in that reflection that we can commemorate and honor the past while gaining insight into the possibilities of the future.

As advocates, participants, and lovers of fashion design we were so emotionally moved by the tone of our surroundings and how it affected the ways we clothed ourselves in an attempt to adapt to our “new normal”. We wanted to come together to be a bit more impactful and project a vision of a future that would hold space for more glamour and celebration. Using our fashionable craft as a response to a time yet to arrive, filled with more positive energies and images. We came together to develop a project named JEOFROI and created a small capsule collection of garments that we felt would provide the viewer with a moment to escape.

Our inspiration was based on the urge and collective tone of our communities need for release, and its desire to commune to celebrate and be celebrated. We were moved and by flouncy robust shapes in conjunction with structure, smart cuts, and flow. Understanding that when combined, these pillars of design can create such elevated balance. We were inspired heavily by movement and its ability, when partnered with different elements such as lighting, prints, and color, to create richness and depth.

We decided to make a small studio in our basement and use the nationwide lockdown to our advantage. We developed and researched the different subject matter to enhance our vision and create more of a connection to our intention. From different time periods and their social construct and zeitgeist, our research was key in relaying our message clearly and effectively.

Masked up sitting in the isle of our local fabric mills, cutting and pairing swatch after swatch to find the perfect compliments, weights, and textile hand that best captured what we wanted to convey. Together we were artistically pushed by the world's current happenings. Knowing that as fashion designers we could create beautiful imagery and garments, which for some could perhaps be a spark in the dark, and in turn create an energy of desire that could inspire them to get dressed, not for their current moments, but rather for the celebratory elevated moments to come.

Our silhouettes began to come to life as we draped and developed patterns in the round. Using our vision and inspiration as the guiding factor in decision making and editing. The tools of our trade helped in the refinement of our vision assisting in the execution of our ideas, helping us to expand and commit to our artistic path. These tools cut away at the disconnects and lingering negative remnants that the pandemic and racial tensions had left behind, and in its place, fused together a glamourous connection steeped in celebration and oneness. We were so inspired and moved by our love of fashion design and wanted to counter what we were being given by offering up our passion of art and connection as collateral.

In these times creativity is sometimes the only way that we are able to express how we feel. Sometimes art, and in our case fashion, is the only thing we can give in response to the horrible moments that we are so afraid might stick. It is within the creation of our passion that we are truly able to bridge gaps,come together, and spark joy.