My Designs

This is the first piece I ever made. It began with a trip to Goodwill, a stroll through the linens section, and a broken charm bracelet that belonged to my grandmother—a bracelet she collected during her travels as a foreign correspondent.

Each charm held a tiny painting or symbol representing a different European city. I used to wear it often, a reminder wrapped around my wrist of the vastness of the world and the richness of travel. I couldn’t let those charms sit in a jewelry box collecting dust. I wanted to give them new life—and that’s when the idea struck: what if I turned them into buttons?

That inspiration became the Satin Voyager Halter—a timeless piece with wide straps, an open back, and a flowy front, all fastened by those sacred travel charms, now transformed into buttons.

I started the process by watching sewing videos on YouTube, but found them hard to follow. Instead, I grabbed a pencil, sketched a design, made a few rough measurements, and just started.

The next few days felt like composing music—each step flowing effortlessly into the next. For the first time, my mind felt fully in sync with my hands, as if everything just made sense—an extraordinarily satisfying feeling. That’s not to say the process was perfect; there were brief moments of frustration, of course. But that’s the beauty of the creative process—confusion and friction often spark the most unexpected and exciting ideas.

The result isn’t perfect, but it’s better than I ever imagined. It’s not just a shirt—it’s a story, a memory, and a celebration of discovery.