Disney's Alice in Wonderland continues to be a favorite in every era of my life. The film is so witty and clever, that it continually draws me in for more. There is a song called "The Garden/All in the Golden Afternoon" that plays while Alice gets lost in a bed of flowers. This is the Garden of Time. A time where we appreciate nature and beauty around us. A time to embrace happiness, romance, and the simple pleasures in life because just like nature, our time will eventually run out.  

Every first Monday in May, the Met Gala hosts an annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in Manhattan. The 2024 Met Gala theme this year was The Garden of Time: Sleeping Beauties, Reawakening Fashion. The theme was interpreted various ways, but I envisioned my own garden and their life cycle. The plant life cycle starts with a bulb and/or seed, then grows, blooms, and dies only to repeat it back again the following year. It is the circle of life. This year I sketched and designed my first digital fashion collection focusing on four various flowers: the daffodil, the sweet pea, the red rose, and the sunflower. 

Look one is Daffy, the daffodil flower. Daffodils are a vivid yellow color and symbolize rebirth, new beginnings, hope, joy, and good luck. The flower has a trumpet-shape central corona that is eye catching and bold. I wanted to emphasize the shape of the flower with a tight waist and top portion with the petals falling and dangling below. This look needed to be a showstopper. The custom fitted tube top portion is made of stretch dandelion satin and the bottom petals are made of premium ivory 100% silk double face duchesse satin. Each petal is detailed and fully shaped. 

Look two is the Cupani violet sweet pea. This flower represents loyalty and pride. With so may variations, there is a reason the Cupani stands out from the rest. The two-tone sweet pea inspired a fun two-piece ensemble. The top is a 3D blossomed sweet pea made with a crisp iridescent country blue fabric, fuchsia silk shantung, and a silk 4-ply crepe magenta haze. The back portion zips up and is similar to a tube top. For the short bottoms, a digital sweet pea print pattern was created from a photograph taken in my garden. I then designed a pattern from the photograph and brought it to life. The ribbon belt is made from jade stretch polyester.

Look three is a red rose prism ensemble inspired from the enchanted rose from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. As the story is told, petals slowly fall off to act as the Beast's hourglass during the spell by having petals fall to let him know how much time he has remaining. He must find true love and earn their love in return before the last petal falls. The red rose symbolizes passion and love. The enchanted rose sheer jumpsuit includes a red and aubergine luxury abstract metallic brocade for the 3D red rose. The jumpsuit portion fabric is a metallic teal and sparkling fuchsia geometric burnout and underneath is a jade stretch polyester leotard. The look is literally a multi-colored geometric life-size enchanted rose. 

Look four is the sunflower. Sunflowers symbolize joy, positivity, and hope during difficult times. They also inspire resilience and perseverance. For the sunflower look, I used a silk faille peacock blue for the base of the hourglass shaped dress that was inspired by Disney's Aladdin when Princess Jasmine was stuck inside the glass hourglass. Under the sunflower heads on the dress, the sunflower roots come down like sand falling and crossing over each other. For the stems and heart, a metallic emerald and olivine feathers fabric was used. For the sunflower petals and bottom trim, a stretch dandelion satin was used. The sunflower head was also made with the dandelion satin with an overlay of the tan floral cotton blend eyelet. As Hellen Keller stated, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do.”

The ideal customer is someone who may attend the Met Gala or any fun floral themed events and/or photoshoots.  These four looks are spunky and fun and I look forward to bringing these pieces to life in the mere future. 

                                                                                                                                                    <3 Celisse Elaine