Still in Motion

The quietest kind of becoming

It’s been a hard year, and in many ways, an awakening one. A year where my career shifted back into a craft I once thought belonged to the past.
Being a fashion designer in my twenties felt like another lifetime. But this year brought me back. Back to sketching, back to making with my hands. And in that return, I realized how much I had missed it. How much I needed to let my brain run wild again, to absorb and to create in a more fluid way.

When I worked as an illustrator and accessories designer, yes both at once, my mind was always locked on product. One season after another, a constant sprint. It wasn’t enough. I needed room to tell stories, not just through objects, but through movement and visuals. That’s when I found art direction and the world of image making, and for a long time, that became my home.

Now, after 14 years in New York, having worked across fashion, beauty, campaigns, and even as a trend reporter for the most amazing mags in my mid twenties, being front row at Chanel shows where Karl walked in front of me, our seasonal offices sometimes at Place Vendôme or the back room at Le Palais de Tokyo (I mean, what) I feel like I’ve truly been everywhere and done it all. And yet, something new has started.

This decision to make something of my own, to build something from the bench up, has opened my eyes in ways I didn’t expect. There’s a quiet kind of pride in seeing my pieces out in the world. In shipping across the globe. In hearing kind words about something that lived in my mind, then took form in my hands. That still feels wild to me. I found my way back to design, and it feels like a homecoming.

This birthday marks something. A pause to take in where I am and where I want to go. There are places you’ll love forever, but they are not always meant to be your forever home. My love for New York is infinite. But lately, there’s a part of me, loud and rooted, that is craving more nature, more stillness, more creation.

I think this next year will be another year of transition, but one guided by intuition and self respect. And I am ready for it.