Tibet Woman, a collection from the Savannah College of Art and Design credited in the award record to Jeffrey Taylor, was named Emerging Fashion Designer of the Year at the 2016 International Design Awards, and also took Gold in women’s haute couture. It sets out to tell the story of Tibetan women and their coming of age, and to ask what it means to be a Tibetan woman.
The collection grew from extensive research into the region’s indigenous textiles, traditional Tibetan dress and ceremonial marriage rituals. That research became a lush evening collection of sensual floral prints with bold lines, embroidery and full, elegant silhouettes. The palette, in shades of pink and yellow, has a smart mid-century influence that keeps it contemporary.
Collections inspired by another culture invite questions about how research is translated into form, and what is kept or set aside along the way. Tibet Woman presents its answer as an act of storytelling: ritual and textile history are reworked into a vision of wearable elegance, not reproduced as costume.
Official award record: International Design Awards winners
Inspiration carries a responsibility to the stories it borrows from.
International Design Awards, 2016 — Emerging Fashion Designer of the Year