There is a beauty in aridity
More primal than the beauty of the lush.
A thought too easy is fertility;
Too soft the valleys, like a maiden's blush.
Give me the rock-bound desert - scrub and sage
Tawny and bleak and wildly beautiful,
Sharp hills pared to the granite bone by age,
And blue cloud-shadows drifting slow and cool.
- E. Tietjens
Dust and Shadow, Concept
The collection is inspired by the American West.
Where the land is harsh and unforgiving, but a rugged beauty exists in the dust and decay.
Horace's ode that 'we are but dust and shadow' references the transience of life, and the binding concept of our mutual mortality
Using the West as a metaphor, the aim was to capture the essence of an ephemeral existence, and the texture we accrue through living
Dust and Shadow, Research
Dust and Shadow - Research, Explanation
Overdyed garments represent the progression of life, and convey the natural patina that we develop over time
Contrasting textures reflect the juxtaposition that defines the experience of living - from innocence to maturity, fragility to strength
Patchwork and rope ties evoke the mending process we undertake when things are broken; as adversity shapes our understanding of the external world, and becomes a part of who we are
Dust and Shadow - Design, Lineup
Dust and Shadow, CADs
Dust and Shadow, Details & Development
Dust and Shadow, Details & Development
Dust and Shadow, Details & Development
'One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams...'
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry