GLACIERS’ BREATHTAKING BEAUTY
Fashion Design, purchased a second-hand tent from Facebook marketplace and experimented with its potential. By cutting up and draping the material onto a mannequin, Latham began to explore the possibilities unfolding within her growing concept.
Taking her exploration a step further, she set out to go backpacking through the mountains and glaciers of Alaska.
“I knew what a glacier was, but never really knew what it would really look like up close. I was really inspired by just the depth that the crevasses go for miles and miles and miles, it’s so much bigger than you could ever imagine,” Latham said, musing about the layers of nature, and its overlooked depths, intricacies, and breathtaking beauty.
An old tent is just the start; while constructing her collection, Latham utilized multiple resources to create dimensional fashion that conveys nature’s ability to simply awe. She used custom-printed fabrics of her photos to contrast against stark matte black fabrics, recreating the sinking depth of the crevasses she saw along her trip. Additionally, she incorporated bright neon gear used for surviving in the harsh conditions of the Arctic within her garments.
Latham struggled to create a garment on a scale that expresses her experiences. She reflected on an early obstacle to connect these wonders of the world to her collection: “I was just constantly being like, make it bigger, make it bigger, make it bigger, because it was hard to get across in my designs, they are just so much bigger than you would think that they are.”
To counteract, she continued to source used tents to collage her materials in various ways to add to her dynamic collection.
The outdoors has been a consistent inspiration for Latham, helping her creative and positive thinking bloom from the breathtaking sights while hiking and backpacking in the wilderness. Her early exposure through spontaneous art classes growing up, while not always fashion-centered, gave her the ability to express her art and creativity, which had a significant effect on her design process for her collection.
“I want people to be able to understand the outdoor space and the hugeness of it. Inspired specifically by Alaska and just how beautiful the world is,” said Latham, who hopes to communicate the incomprehensible abilities of our precious nature with her collection. “ On top of that, a lot of the materials are repurposed, so being able to connect the outdoors with caring for the environment and reusing materials.”
San Francisco gleams with opportunities for Latham; she’s ready to contribute her ideas to the world. Between her thesis collection and design style, she shows range and finds herself aiming for SF based companies like Gap and Levi’s matches her style with their brand identities.
Words by Lola O’Donnell, AA Fashion Styling
