I'm currently finishing designs for my fall collection. It's always such a circuitous process. I lay out what designs we're moving forward with and then pull inspiration for the next collection. My design table is covered with beads, color palettes, new pieces we've cast and fabricated and images of inspiration for form, line, texture and construction. Every season I think I know the exact direction I'm going but it's only the beginning of the trip. As I fabricate pieces, riff on those, take them apart go a different direction, look at more inspiration, take more conceptual photos I inevitably become overwhelmed by all the possibilities. The months of R&D become weeks, then days when I have to make decisions to complete the season. And then I come across inspiration from a past season and it throws me into a tailspin. My derailment this season came from one of my favorite books Henri Matisse Ellsworth Kelly Plant Drawings. This collection of line drawings shifted my perception of how to wear what I was designing and also how to simplify the silhouette. So many ideas but so little time to explore them all. At some point I just have to say "enough, it's done and I'll save this idea for the next season". The discovery, doubt, elation, doubt, discovery cycle is part of the process that most creative people I know go through. It's hard to say "step away from the table, time's up!" but I'm fast approaching that point. This is a snapshot of where I am as I head towards the finish line.
