Growing Moments: Memory Fossils

2024 Fashion Design MFA graduate thesis collection created by Eunhae Cho. Presented on September 10, 2024 at 'Beyond: Design MFA Showcase.
Department: Fashion Design
Eunhae Cho is a Korean designer who was raised in a multicultural environment across Korea, Canada, and the United States. Passionate about community enrichment, Cho is committed to nurturing diversity, inclusion, and cultural heritage and to creating meaningful connections through design. Through her work she celebrates individual stories and personal histories within her community. Cho’s professional experiences and honors include a Volvo x CFDA collaboration and Swarovski sponsorship, and in 2023, she was selected as a CFDA Geoffrey Beene scholarship finalist. Cho has worked with Gucci, Ashlyn, and R13, and she is proficient in research, illustration, patternmaking, and sewing, with additional expertise in jewelry crafting.
About This Collection
This collection is inspired by fossils: born of nature and formed uniquely over time, their appearance offers clues to their provenance and history. I translated this theme into garments via modularity, which represents the idea that no two people wear a garment in the same way, just like nature crafts no two stones alike. The pieces in this collection invite the wearer to interact with the garment’s seams and cuts via buttoned closures, allowing each individual to modify the piece into a shape that is uniquely their own. And with the connected panels, each individual wearer can craft a layered story—their own memory fossil. The buildable, interchangeable garments in my collection allow the wearer to live artfully through the everyday act of getting dressed, tapping memory and experience to give us a peek into their ever-changing inner life.