This student designer created a fashion line to elevate the voices of black women . . . (Video)
Source: AJ+
Source: Huffington Post
During elementary school, I was taught the same monotonous, single-perspective, basic American history – like how Abraham Lincoln was our White savior and Malcolm X was the “bad guy” in comparison to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. History has so many gray areas, but the school system somehow refined it to make everything very black and white. . . (read more)
Source: Upworthy
Powell's collection, ROOTS, at the student-run Cornell Fashion Collective, is striking, beautiful, and political in equal measure. . . Throughout history, the voices of black women were too often ignored, omitted, or silenced. It continues today. Even Powell admitted having reservations about tackling such a taboo topic for her collection. . . (read more)
Source: Jopwell
Black women’s narratives are often eclipsed by those of the Black man and/or the White woman. Through ROOTS, I wanted to explore the intersectionality of Black women in America and the unique double discrimination that they experience based on both race and gender . . . (read more)
Source: The Thread Magazine
“It is hard to wholeheartedly love something that does not seem to love you back. The industry has historically challenged the beauty of black women by either masculinizing black women and stripping away our femininity, appropriating our culture, or outright omitting the image of the black women. As a result, I have tried to use my work as a way of sharing the black woman’s narrative.” (read more)
Source: Cornell Daily Sun
But the strongest piece came with a level of thematic and visual consistency, all the while taking meaningful risks that were personally revealing. Rachel Powell — what can I say? Her design set, ROOTS, is what happens when art mimics your reality. . . her provocative wear spoke of a light despair, a hint of anger, but a swelling of pride of her identity . . . (read more)
Source: Cornell Chronicle
“The black woman falls into this void of not knowing where she fits in to society, so my collection is examining her transition in trying to find a space in American society,” she said. “Looking into the different designs, I examine how the black woman has progressed and morphed as she gained more freedom and more confidence in herself” . . . (read more)
Source: Slope Media
On Saturday March 11th, Cornellians flocked to Barton Hall for the Cornell Fashion Collective’s 33rd Annual Runway Show. The show featured original designs from students across all years, modeled by their peers and even some family members. While the evening itself appeared effortlessly flawless, a tremendous amount of time and energy went into making the collections and the show as amazing as they were. We sat down with the CFC seniors to discuss the highs, lows and heroes of the preparation process. . . . (read more)
The International Textile and Apparel Association design scholars are invited to submit proposals to present original design work at the ITAA Annual Conference during the Design Exhibition as part of the Creative Design Scholarship. This design catalogue features the works of the designs selected for the 2014 annual conference . . . (read more) p. 164
June 2014 winner: Rachel Powell, Cornell Unviersity '17 Fiber Science and Apparel Design.
Twice a year the Showtime Directory is printed and distributed to over 6,450 industry executives from around the world. The winning student and school will receive exposure in publications, as well as a monetary award of $500 for the student . . . (read more)
Source: CIFFI News
FSAD freshman Rachel Powell submitted the winning entry in the International Textiles Market Association 2014 cover design competition . . . (read more)
Source: Cornell Chronicle
For an assignment in her introductory computer-aided design (CAD) class, Cornell fashion design freshman Rachel Powell was mainly concerned with receiving “a decent grade.”
She got that and more: Her piece, a colorful pattern of interlocking cubes, won the 2014 International Textile Market Association Educational Foundation cover competition . . . (read more)
