Isabella DesRoberts
My Prince Memorial Jacket
Class of: 2024
Major: Fashion Design BFA
Medium: Garment, paper
Faculty: Seminar: Samantha Zighelboim / Studio: Simone Kearney
Prompt: For our Bridge 4 final project, we were asked to choose an artist that we find interesting or are inspired by. In seminar, we researched and wrote a 2-3 page tribute to that artist. In studio, we created an object that would belong to that artist. The object was supposed to be meaningful or sentimental to the person, and reflect what we learned in our research.
I chose Prince Rogers Nelson because he is without a doubt, one of my all time favorite musical artists. I am particularly in love with his album Purple Rain. For my object, I chose to create my own version of his iconic purple jacket, that he wore in the album cover for Purple Rain. I created the pattern for the jacket with my knowledge from prior sewing projects. I began with a purple lining that I sewed to fit my body. For the outside layer, I chose a fabric with a purple and black pattern that resembled Paisleys, a concept that was seen in many aspects of Prince’s life. I then sewed on a pendant to the collar, which is the Prince symbol, something that was very important in his career. It was made by creating a silicone mold and melting metal in the mold to form the shape.
