Textile manipulation / 2025
Soft
Armor
Protection does not have to announce itself through rigidity.
- Year
- 2025
- Type
- Textile manipulation / Denim / Hand construction
- Role
- Design, textile development, patternmaking, and construction
- Materials
- Denim / Linen
- Methods
- Large-scale Canadian smocking / Patternmaking / Hand finishing
Project statement
Protection made through time and touch.
Soft Armor began with a simple question: could a garment communicate protection through softness rather than hardness? I paired a linen shirt with smocked denim jeans, allowing two familiar materials to behave against expectation. Large-scale Canadian smocking compressed the denim into a dense, dimensional surface while the linen retained air and movement. The contrast made protection feel bodily rather than militarized. Because the smocking is built through repeated handwork, time became visible in the final surface; durability and care are carried by the same marks. The project received the 2026 NSAL Indiana Chapter Career Award and was selected for exhibition at FAR Gallery. More importantly, it clarified my interest in garments whose emotional meaning is inseparable from the way they are constructed.
Garment and material studies
The detail carries the idea.
Record
- NSAL Indiana Chapter Career Award, 2026
- FAR Gallery exhibition, 2026