My Collaboration With The Land Health Institute

This season started by taking walks around my neighborhood and thinking of meaningful concepts I want to communicate in my next collection. On a spring evening, when the light was just beginning to glow through the leaves, I found myself walking around my neighborhood of Kensington, Philadelphia. Between the old and the new, I found small plots of open space where the community had gotten together to make a garden. I liked the thought of blossoming flowers against the harsh backdrop of an ever-changing city neighborhood.  

I wanted a non-profit that focused on putting nature back into the city but also created programs to help enrich the community. I found local Philadelphia non-profit: The Land Health Institute to work with for this season. Using their ecological and interdisciplinary design expertise, Land Health Institute works with urban communities to identify, design, and build projects on underutilized and vacant land. The result is a real-life story of the transformation of distressed land into inspirational space in which nature and humans flourish

For this collaboration, $ 2 of every sale will go to the Land Health Institute's efforts to build a native plant nursery in West Parkside, Philadelphia.  

When designing the collection, I decided to play with juxtaposing. I love the delicate nature of petals against the harsh realities of a city. I developed these prints first with paint and paper using soft strokes and harsh strokes to create abstract impressions.  For fabrics, I chose to work with natural cotton/ silk which takes dye really beautifully. I also started to use recycled rayon faille for my classic Helene dress. The final result is a modern collection that has both soft feminine touches and raw abstractions. I design for the modern women who appreciates nuances to details and a soft wash of color.