GILDED (2013–14)

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Above: my logo for GILDED.

GILDED is my line for MICA's experimental fashion show, XIX, and benefit fashion show, UNMARKED. They happened a week apart in spring 2014.

My line is a study on the reconciliation of opposites. Each ensemble is an amalgamation of elegance and irreverence, masculine and feminine, Western and Eastern, tailored and deconstructed. These disparate influences evoke the idea of a ‘gilded age:’ a gleaming exterior belying a decaying interior, an image built upon romanticization of a repressive and oppressive past. Ambiguity is an important concept, with blurred visions of gender, era, and culture providing the foundation for the exploration of traditional Western ideas on civilization, sex, race, and the definition of ‘progress.’

CHAPTER I: STUDIO

February 2014; my two favorite looks two months before the shows.

Photo credit: Derek Blanks

Models: Dalton Baker, Bailey Sheehan

March 2014, a week before the experimental fashion event and two weeks before the benefit fashion show.

Photo credit: Maxime La
Models: Jackie Mask, Dalton Baker, Bailey Sheehan

CHAPTER II: XIX RUNWAY (SHOW ONE)

April 2014, XIX
Photo credit: John Sisk
Models: Bailey Sheehan, Marissa McDonald, Amadeus Guchhait, Jackie Mask, Antonius Bui, Dalton Baker, Bryce Ramming

CHAPTER III: UNMARKED RUNWAY (SHOW TWO)

April 2014, UNMARKED: 21st Annual Benefit Fashion Show
Photo credit: Mandy Shen (1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11) and Christopher Myers (4, 5, 7, 8)
Models: Bailey Sheehan, Marissa McDonald, Amadeus Guchhait, Jackie Mask, Antonius Bui, Dalton Baker, Bryce Ramming

BONUS CHAPTER: BEHIND-THE-SCENES

Photo credit: uncredited (1), Derek Blanks (2), Tommy Bruce (3, 4)
Models: Mahnoor Ahmed, Bailey Sheehan, Dalton Baker, Antonius Bui, Amadeus Guchhait