Life Style

E'lan Byrd

Parsons freshman
Miami, Florida
18 years old

“ To me, Fashion is! It is a way of documenting history. It's a way of living. It's a language. It's an art, an expression, an energy, a culture, a love, a comfort. It's something that exists and lives everywhere. Fashion is a life we all indulge in whether we want to or not, Fashion is!”

E’lan’s collection: My collection is called Exposed. My concept addresses the idea of women being stripped of their rights, being left bare, and exposed. I decided to use a nude color palette in order to represent the suffering of women, in every culture and race; also, to play on the words exposed and stripped. The chains in my collection represent the hold society and government have on women. Throughout my collection, I've used the chains to represent the progression of women's rights and freedom. The first garment has an abundance of chains representing when women had absolutely no freedom, up to the last garment, which only has chains in the back. This represents the present day. Even though we have come a long way, there are still remnants of injustice that are not as obvious, but are still present.

What excites you most about Fusion? I am excited to just be in Fusion, this is such a great opportunity to be able meet 29 other creative designers and share this experience with them. But of course, I am most excited for all the shows and exposure, because in the end everyone wants to be famous and remembered for the work they created.