What was the design process like?

"I had to learn how to drape everything to the body and custom-make every piece for my models. This was the biggest challenge, but also the most rewarding part of my design process: Even though my models were all around sizes 14 to 16, they each had unique body types that had to be accommodated differently.

"Each piece was designed with a specific model in mind, exposing the parts of the body that are typically hidden and supporting the parts of the body that needed the most support... I wanted a collection that a plus-size woman would feel confident and comfortable in, and wouldn't feel as though she was hiding in her clothes, but that she could make a statement and that she deserved to look good."

Beyond your design work, you've written and performed poetry about the 67%. What inspired the spoken-word piece (featured below), and what were you hoping to get across?

"When I wrote this piece, I was becoming increasingly frustrated with only seeing one kind of woman in our [fashion] curriculum. There was no representation of non-Eurocentric, differently abled, non-cisgender, or non-heteronormative people. I kept asking, 'Why do none of these people look like me?' I felt like I was not included in this industry I was getting into, and that wasn't fair to me or my education. We talk about how fashion is inspired by certain things, like cultures, subcultures, people, and places; however, most of the inspiration is appropriated and redesigned to fit this standard. If we are going to take inspiration from a diverse array of things, we need to see a diverse array of representation."