Explorations in Dallas
Mental exploration counts too
A lot has happened in the last two weeks since my last journal entry. I was in the midst of reflecting on things and then didn’t actually get a chance to share those things.
So how about we go ahead and jump into them!
First thing’s first. Let’s talk about my Dallas adventure, or maybe safe to say lack thereof. (Forewarning, it was a much needed trip and I learned quite a bit and had a little time to recenter. So it was actually a great trip, just not exactly what I was planning for.) After arriving Thursday and shooting with my friend and signature model, Skye, I interviewed him for Looped In. I got a walk-thru of his day-to-day junk removal activities and a small tour of one of the local landfills. (If you didn’t get a chance to listen or tune into the footage, don’t worry I got you!)
I’ve been to the “dump” before, but not this close up and personal with behind the scenes; and, I will say it was a cool experience. Cool in the way that seeing the process up front and personal brings a deeper understanding to how our disposal infrastructure works a little more. I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Wasn’t that gross or extremely stinky?”. Eh, it really wasn’t as bad as Skye was making it out to be. I feel like I’ve smelled worse. But we were also out there in 35 degree weather, so that may have attributed to the lack of the smell, outside of majority of the trash having been covered with dirt. So we ended up shooting and interviewing at the landfill and may have been there for like 40 minutes or so.
My next adventure led me to visit Dallas Men’s Market on Friday, which was opening day. And unfortunately due to the impending weather and maybe the time of day that I arrived, it was still a little sleepy there. But it confirmed the direction in which I’m heading with my designs and my brand. Unfortunately, that meant that for me the amount of diversification on the floor was very minimal outside of textures and various colorways, leading me to potentially look at other shows that could be a fit in the future. However, I did walk away with a great connection that gave me some food for thought.
Again…that impending weather alert….
Originally, I was planning to head up to Norman, OK for The University of Oklahoma’s Sustainability Forum that was being held on Saturday. Well the whole event got moved to being virtual due to the snow storm and it was a great call. Sadly for me, that meant I would be stuck in my hotel room for 3 days in Dallas. However, I still had a great time attending the event virtually and had the pleasure of speaking with my fellow classmates on a panel about how the program has helped us in our career paths and why we selected the program. It was a packed forum with experts speaking on data center and AI energy consumption, land use and water capacities for agriculture, and the use of nanoparticles in various ways including how to help fight hunger. It was an honor to share the “room” with such incredible people.
Which leads me to my real reflection that hit me as I was preparing for my small portion in the forum…my first time speaking as part of a panel concerning circular fashion. Last spring I joined two other incredible speakers at Sweet Gum Manor in Cincinnati for a conversation about design and manufacturing in how they relate to fashion and interiors. Unfortunately, the whole conversation wasn’t recorded, but I do have a snippet and reel that you can checkout on Instagram.
Just based off of my opening statement, if I could go back in time, I would dive in further to explain the nuances between sustainability and circularity. That achieving both at the same time is a special thing because it’s not always the most practical, depending on the industry, the cost, and even the region where innovations of change may be implemented. We discussed more about what style is and what timelessness can mean individually and collectively. We talked about how that idea of timeless doesn’t mean style or design has to be boring, but built to transition with you as trends and fads come and go, keeping it effortless. I would also have spoken more about understanding the emotional value we build into our clothing and how can we inherently keep these pieces and transform them over time. Exploring the idiosyncrasies of our desire for something “new” could open another dialog with our overall relationship with things.
Taking these experiences and shifting them to help teach others that these ideas aren’t out of reach is one of my favorite things to do. And each time that I’ve joined a panel or have had a chance to speak, I learn just as much from my fellow panelists and the audience, as I hope they learn from me.
More of my thoughts to come as I explore redesign further and infrastructure systems! (My capstone project has me going down a rabbit hole, so forewarning, you may see a lot about recycling systems and plastics over the next few weeks.)
Until next time, share your warm, beautiful glow with the world!