Let Her Dance is an eccentric collection inspired by film director Wes Anderson. Anderson is able to transport his audience into a quirky, whimsical, and nostalgic environment. Fantasy is welcomed and crazy is completely normal. By combining unexpected prints, shapes, textures, and colors I created three contrasting garments that are an homage to his whimsical and peculiar style. 

The Bloom of a Jellyfish is a project based on the chaos that is happening under the oceans. In the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in jellyfish population and it is our fault. Due to overfishing, global warming, and pollution, there has been a 62% increase in the creatures' population. 

This bloom will cause the oceanic ecosystems to flip from one dominated by biodiversity of fishes, sea creatures, and marine mammals, to one dominated by jellyfish. It is not only affecting the marine food web, but is causing climate change. Jellyfish release carbon-rich mucus that bacteria use for respiration and transform into Co2. 

My goal for this project was to raise awareness of this situation. The manipulated and dimensional top represent the birth and bloom of jellyfishes, while the innumerable manipulations on the bottom symbolize the overpopulation on the oceans. 

The world of fashion today is lacking a focus on sustainability. The goal of this project was to create something out of nothing, out of things people had already thrown away. I gathered fabric and fibers that were discarded and weaved them into a captivating and unique garment. 

Photographs by Jim Prinz

 For centuries, the Guna Yala, an indegenous group from Panama, have been creating "Molas." They are a beautiful mix of colorful textiles that consist of layers of fabric in the shape of different animals and patterns. Every single detail is hand-made using the appliqué technique. For this collection I was inspired in the carefully manufactured work of the Guna Yala people, and decided to mix it up with gemstones to give it a more contemporary aesthetic to my design. 

Panama is filled with breathtaking beaches, and astonishing nature. San Blas is a beach with crystallized waters that hide all types of coral reefs. Nevertheless, these corals are dying more and more over time. In 1983 the lagoon reefs in San Blas were filled with Agaricia corals, now they only occupy 12-26% of the reef area. My goal was to portray the contrast in colors and texture of these creatures. I hand sewed lace together and finished with yellow glass beads giving it the delicate touch of the Agaricia corals.

Bichitos is a collection of earrings inspired by beetles. My goal was to represent these creatures giving them a modern twist with exciting colors and shapes.

My main purpose for this project is to think about the action of stitching the body, and using the fabric as a substitute for the skin. By stitching the body I am recreating this memory into something permanent. Intimacy was a crucial part of this project, for this reason I decided to use a small scale and people I know and love. My goal was to make them feel light with the sheer fabric and interpret them in my own perspective through the embroidery. 

For this project I did an intense research about Jordan during the 1800s, when they were part of the Ottoman Empire. Through this research I found out a key factor for these cultural garments was embroidery. Following this, I took actual patterns from the ones they used at the time to embroider the top of the garment. 

Photographs by Jim Prinz

For this project I was able to experiment and learn more about hat forms. One piece is able to accessorize more in an evening event, while the other is a more casual piece.