Olivia Beresford

S E L F love

Class of: 2025

Major: Fashion Design BFA

Medium: Stretch Nylon Mesh, Rit Fabric Dye

Faculty: Michelle Nahum-Albright

Prompt: The last 3 Bridge Projects were all committed to making our final. In Bridge 3 though discussions, research and a proposal we created a core concept that was developed into a final conceptual / physical output (Bridges 4/5). An idea was related in some way to the class core concept of Clothing as Communication.

For my final Bridge 5 project, I delved into the topic of self love. I wanted to specifically explore the process of building self love over time and through constant work. It’s a personal journey, with a lot of unfurling ends and lacking perfection, but beautiful nonetheless. I made a mesh garment that embodies this journey. I want viewers to be able to see the journey the wearer has gone through to get to where they are with loving themselves. I utilized fabric manipulation to allude to the work and commitment one must put into themselves when building self love. Not only playing with the density of the gathered fabric, but color aids in conveying my message. I used a dark purple dye, representing devotion and the ability to commit, in this case, to yourself. Dark purple also relates to femininity.