About Silver Branwen
Silver Branwen is an alternative clothing line that is meant to represent the multifaceted women of today. I like to combine multiple themes to create a distinct aesthetic for a unique woman. My current aesthetic is hard to pin down, but it is recognizable as mine. A majority of my inspiration comes from the things I enjoy. This ranges from music to history.
When designing, an obstacle I consistently face is creating something marketable and wearable for everyday use, while still being unique enough for someone to want to buy. To overcome this, I tend to use simple silhouettes and focus on embroidery, beading, style lines, and other embellishments to make my pieces stand out.
I hold to a strong set of beliefs when designing for Silver Branwen. Sustainability, ethics, and human rights are all important to Silver Branwen. Textiles should be as natural as possible and sourced sustainably. Each person creating the garments should be treated with respect and basic human decency, and not subject to harsh working conditions or abuse from coworkers and superiors.
My main goal is to grow Silver Branwen into a sustainable and ethical wholesale brand and have a flagship store.
About Me
Hey there, thank you for stopping by! I was born and raised in the South, Lawrenceville and Snellville, Georgia, to be more specific. I now live down on the Georgia side of the Georgia/Alabama border. I’m a Southerner through and through. I spent my childhood almost entirely outside fishing, mudding in my Barbie Jeep, playing with my dog, and riding horses. If I was not outside, I was watching PBR or drawing poorly designed clothes on printer paper. A second favorite hobby of mine was to continuously renew Barbie in a Fashion Fairytale from my local library and design clothes while I watched it. I’m not sure where my interest in fashion design began, but it was solidified when Barbie in a Fashion Fairytale came out. I started out drawing short, flowy summer dresses with bows and thin straps. Over time, my skills started to develop along with my aesthetic.
I attended The Fashion Institute of Technology and graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design. My strongest skills are design, illustration, and creating technical flats. Some skills that could use some work are pattern drafting and sewing.
Some fun facts about me are that my favorite band is Motorhead. I also like a lot of goth, metal, rock, Southern rock, and country music. I like lifted trucks and American muscle cars, and I’m a history buff. My favorite movie series is Mad Max, Police Academy, and the animated Barbie movies.
I come from a lower working-class family, which plays a huge part in how I design clothing and spend money on clothing. Growing up, a lot of my clothes were thrifted or hand-me-downs. Because of this, I firmly believe that clothing should be as sustainable as possible and last a lifetime. I also do not think that a new piece of clothing needs to be bought just because everyone else has it.
My upbringing also played a part in how I learned to design and sew. My parents couldn’t afford to pay for sewing or design classes. Until I attended college, I had no formal or proper training on how to sketch or design clothing. I was mostly taught via YouTube and by looking at other illustrators online. My mom taught me very basic sewing skills, and her mother was a professional seamstress.
I stumbled on designing clothes by accident, and it stuck. At heart, I’m just a redneck who likes to draw clothes. This has made me feel like an “odd one out” in the fashion industry. I don’t come from a prestigious or fashion background, whereas the majority of my classmates and peers do.