The focus of /bəˈlôNG/ is to go beyond diversity and inclusion in fashion and instead to create a sense of belonging in the industry. Historically, fashion has been very discriminatory and I want to do my part to change this while inspiring others to do the same. This collection is inspired by gardens as they represent a lovely, serene oasis in a world full of chaos, which is something we could all use in our day-to-day lives. Within gardens are a variety of different flowers all deemed beautiful, despite being different colors, types, or having some flaws.

The purpose of this creative project is twofold: Firstly, to study various pattern-welding processes that have been used throughout history, and secondly, to attempt to create a piece or several pieces of art using the processes studied. Pattern-welding traditionally refers to the practice of creating forged laminates composed of alternating layers of two or more compositionally distinct metals. This term is typically used to specifically refer to these techniques when they are used for the creation of blades, with laminates made of high-phosphorus iron, low-phosphorus mild steel, and/or wrought iron, which was historically done to give the final weapon allegedly better mechanical properties (Thiele et al., 2015). This technique, while supposedly creating mechanically superior weapons in terms of durability and strength, also results in a unique, incredibly aesthetic visual effect. As the laminated billet of metals is twisted, deformed, etched, and polished, the different layers of metals become visible, resulting in a range of patterns depending on the deformation techniques used, and it was this aesthetic value that truly led to the widespread use of pattern-welding. Metals worked in this manner are colloquially known today as Damascus, although the process is technically distinct from true Damascus steel. For the purposes of this creative project, I will extend the concept of pattern-welding beyond strictly using iron and steel used to create swords, and include the similar artistic technique known as mokume-gane. Mokume-gane, which directly translates into English as “wood-grain metal” (Binnion, 2011), also involves forging alternating layers of different metals into a billet, but uses softer metals, historically silver, gold, copper, and alloys of the above. Mokume-gane, which has only relatively recently been used in the West, is the technique that I used to create my art pieces for this creative project.

Since I was a child, I was active in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group. Through my involvement with the group, I developed an interest in medieval European history, and I had the opportunity to take several jewelry making classes. I have been making jewelry for about seven years, and I especially love making chainmail jewelry, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that in this project. Rather than preparing a jewelry collection, I decided on a larger, more focused project – a period dress made of chainmail. I chose the Viking apron dress because it is a style that I myself have often worn in the SCA. To make the piece more personal to me, I incorporated influence from my Japanese heritage as well, both in the weave and in the cherry blossom theme of the dress. This project allowed me to explore the similarities and differences between Viking and Japanese culture, as well as to work with new metals and metalworking techniques that I had not worked with previously. For this project, I crafted an apron dress out of copper and nickel using the Hikaru weave, a variant of Japanese 6-in-1. I also sewed an underdress with simple chainmail trim and crafted a pair of cherry blossom shaped pins in place of the traditional tortoise brooches. This piece was a challenge to myself, as this was my first attempt at a project on this scale, and I had the opportunity to learn many new techniques along the way. While my finished piece has changed quite a bit from my original vision, I’ve learned so much from this project – about the cultures I tried to convey with the piece, as well as about myself and what I am capable of accomplishing.