Photography
Fashion Design
In 2020, I created a fashion brand called GirlYard.
During peak quarantine, I taught myself how to sew on a standard brother sewing machine my neighbor let me borrow.
I started sewing masks, and would sell them to my parents friends, or people in my neighborhood. One of my neighbors approached me after buying one of my masks and asked if she could buy 20-30 masks and sell them at her coffee shop.
So, I created GirlYard. When people would buy my masks, they would get a business card with my information, and told to look out for the next steps of my brand.
I continued to sell masks in packages of 20-30 to my neighbor each month, and she got me in touch with other small businesses and I started to sell masks to them as well. During 2021, I was selling my masks at 5 different shops in LA, and was making around 150 masks a month.
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The more I was sewing, the better I got, and I started to sew full garments. I also experimented with sketching and designing clothes to make and wear.
In 2021, I decided I wanted to produce some of the designs I had been working on. I met and worked closely with a pattern maker, and made patterns of 4 of my designs. I went fabric shopping and got over 100 yards of fabric, and then met with a company that would take the patterns and fabric and turn them into my designs.
I sell my designs to friends, family, and online on various apps.
Over summer 2023, I had the amazing opportunity to study fashion design at Parsons, the New School in Paris for 22 days.
It was an incredible experience and I'm so grateful I was able to do it. Within the courses, we researched designers and styles, visited fashion museums, learned about different fabrics and machines, practiced sketching and sewing, and were tasked with designing and sewing a full garment.
