As a Kid: My entire life I liked to create "things". As a kid I would peruse the isles of hardware stores, fabric stores, and arts shops, grabbing random trinkets and developing grand master plan art projects. As I grew up, I applied my love of project-making to my passion for jewelry and clothing design. I made clothing out of paper bags and glue sticks, then moved to my dad’s tee shirts and mom’s jeans. My jewelry was made from anything from Fimo Clay and Shrinki-Dinks and the more “classic” sea beads and embroidery floss. I never planned what I wanted to make, rather I took from any one item, image, piece of fabric pattern to inspire my eye. Fashion as an Art form: While at college at Colgate University, I made the decision to explore my creativity further through an Art major. In order to continue on with fashion design at college, I had to challenge the Art Department, defending fashion as an art form and not just a “craft.” I focused on fashion as a political statement by translating my message through the unlikely materials I used. I used vinyl, plastic wrap, Q-tips, cotton balls, and toilet paper to make pants, dresses, suits and skirts. Three of my installations were showcased in a solo exhibit in 2002 entitled “Come as you are,” followed by another installation in group exhibit in 2003 entitled “Exhibit B.” Full-time Fashion: After graduating Colgate University in 2003, I moved to New York City where I worked at Ralph Lauren as an Associate Merchandiser. I was involved with product design, line assortment and travelled to Europe for line openings. Out side of work, I continued with my clothing design but began to focus more on jewelry design. My petite NYC apartment was just not big enough for me, my cat and my dress form, so jewelry was a great creative outlet. After two years in New York CIty, I made the decision that I really wanted to focus on designing jewelry full time and work towards opening a clothing and jewelry store of my own. In January 2006, I left Ralph Lauren and moved from NYC to San Francisco, CA. I am now working as the Manager of Margaret O’Leary, a clothing boutique, learning the ways of the business to one day apply to a business of my own. Enjoy!
 
 
 
 
About Me