My University of Minnesota Senior clothing line was titled Pour Rénover la Tradition. This, in French, means “to renovate tradition”. I was experimenting with the design differences between gender specific garments. Could gender-specific garments be exchanged without the wearers cross-dressing? Could men wear skirts and still be masculine? Could women wear pants and still be feminine? Could these two ideas exist together and be equal? I pulled design elements specific to men’s and women’s clothing and transposed them onto a different garment form. For example, men retained their darker color palette and heavier, crisp fabrics. Women kept the softer, richer fabrics and a more vivid color palette. I also used elements of 17th century court dress to pull the garments out of contemporary stereotypes and help the viewer deconstruct old ideas.
