This project has come a long way since its conception this past summer. What ultimately started as an exploration of the Mines community through fashion has since turned into an exploration into value-based design and the methodology behind it. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the majority of my time on this project, and I hope my exploration encourages others to look at fashion in a new way.
While my practicum project was geared strongly towards the Mines community, I hope that others who are not associated with Mines can see the value displayed here. My ultimate goal was to help spread appreciation of fashion as an art form. Even though my design process was heavily influenced by the community currently around me, I hope it's easy to trace my inspiration through my design process.
I would also like to take this time to mention that this project would look very different had I not been able to travel to London with the traveling McBride class. I am incredibly grateful I got to go and even though my design is Mines inspired, there are London influences in it. Even though this wasn’t my original intention, I’m glad that I got to see more of the world and take pieces of it back with me (both literally and figuratively). My trip was a truly unique experience because I got to travel to a new country, participate in an interesting class, and learn about things that have always been fascinating to me.