(collection no. 1)
behind the scenes of our brands debut collection and runway show... the process, inspiration, all the juicy stuff...
it was incredibly important to make "The World Needs Someone Like You", a collection inspired by my personal experience with mental health, the first one we put out for the people. The clothes were inspired by the things I felt in my most difficult time with it, the things I needed to hear, and what we can all do to help others around us that may be dealing with similar experiences.
When I went out to Grand Canyon University for my freshman year, I was very focused on another business I have for my artwork and doing custom work for people (One of 1 Customs LLC). I had been trying to think of a way to start testing the idea for a brand, when God put a random thought in my head to paint posters with encouraging phrases on them the night before a student market (“You are One of 1”, “Smile Today”, and “The World Needs Someone Like You”). I was semi confused considering the timing. The idea came to me late at night on October 7th… and it took me about 5 hours to get the work done which led to me being up till 4 AM, but for some reason, I felt like this was the start of something. The next day, the posters sold out, and I was kind of blown away, because I didn’t really expect that good of a reaction. I met a lot of people that day that would go on to be influential with the next steps of what would become the brand.
Flash forward a few weeks to the day I was inspired to officially create the brand… I can’t say how, but I knew that day… the only real option for the first collection was something along the lines of mental health…but not in a uber corny way that often happens.
The collection didn’t really start until well after the first show I had a small feature in… which is where I met the director of the show for Atlas Fashion Show, Logan Glennie. I told him I wanted to be in the next show because I saw the opportunity to share what I was working on. He has a truly incredible and kind idea at its start… giving young, aspiring designers, such as myself, the platform to share what they do. We met for coffee a few days later and talked about our visions, which aligned to have Created One of One be a part of the spring show (Atlas III).
After that, I practiced sewing, worked on different ideas for items and my vision for the brand in general (also this collection). I tested these ideas with some shoots and just the earth theme (“world”) along with the collection phrase on items. I then went to Christmas break to relax a bit and made my first patchwork pants and hoodie, which featured an earth in the middle of the chest like future designs in the finalized collection. One of my homies in Cincinnati, Tanner Ragle, did a mini shoot with some of these items.
After my Christmas break…I got back to campus and hit the ground running experimenting with different phrases, concepts, and overall themes for the collection to have. My fresh thoughts and original brainstorm notes led me to the a few phrases to make up the collection: “the world needs someone like you”, “piece of mind”, and “spread love”.
In this collection, I took heaps of inspiration from the people that God used to inspire me to realize my potential and purpose: Justin Bieber, Kanye West, and the late Virgil Abloh… those inspirations stem not only from my personal growth but also fashion, design, and the way they go about life. This collection truly is an extension of me, a reflection of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I am going (mentally, physically, and spiritually).
The phrase, “The World Needs Someone Like You”, had a ton to do with the fact that when I was at my lowest point with my mental health, it was so important to just feel wanted, to be loved, to be cared for, a reminder that life is worth living from anyone or anything. I believe that each and every person on this earth is … one of one , individually crafted with an incredible purpose by God Himself. You have purpose, are loved, valued, and cared for… if not by anyone else, then I do and God does. I’ve waited for the outlet to share how much I care for people, its why I do what I do, I love people, and just want to be an instrument for God to change the world. I seriously love you (the reader) so much, if I can go from contemplating why my life is worth is living to doing a runway show and everything else that is going to happen on this journey, I KNOW YOU CAN TOO… and just like the world needs me …. The World Needs Someone Like You.
“Piece of Mind” came to life in my head through the idea of “noise.” I know you know what I mean… the noise of stress and anxiety, of all the distractions and busyness from what really matters that drives you insane. I understand that feeling, and all I wanted in those moments when the “noise” was unbearable, was peace of mind. So, you’re possibly saying, Grant… why did you misspell “peace” on your shirts and in all these blogs. Holdddd onnnn… let me explain. Allot of people want to say there’s a best way to figure out your mental struggle, a cure all… and there is… but it’s not probably what you think. Therapy might help, but so do friends, so does this and that…. bottom line is God is going to bring all of the PIECES, in the form of people sharing love, necessary in your life for you to have what you need to get through whatever it is you may be going through. People come and go, some for a season, some for a lifetime, but regardless, every person, place, and experience that you have will be, in time, what you need to have “Piece of Mind”. This is why the main addition to the screen printed ‘Piece of Mind” graphic on the shirt is a heart with multiple “pieces”, which also fits with our brand… as there is a large focus on sustainability. I get to use these little scraps that would get thrown away by most people, to reuse/upcycle to spread a positive and encouraging message… and it looks fire.
“Spread Love” is honestly a pretty simple concept… but seems to be an issue in our world today… a world often filled with hate towards others. I mean, I think allot of people overcomplicate mental health at times when it comes to like how to help people. This is my answer… Spread Love. This obviously can come in different forms, but the simplest way is to be mindful of the people around you to the best of your ability, to understand that we don’t always know what someone is going through. The simplest smile to someone, a text saying “hey, how you doing”, etc.…. goes such a long way... I know it did for me.
I understood that my time was short… to fully design, source, and produce all things for the runway and post show sales. I slowly devoted almost my entire life at the time to this show, ensuring I was making personal deadlines and staying on course to finish with time to enjoy everything, Mind you, I had zero experience with any of these items, up until that time my sewing experience was one pair of patchwork pants (which I wore on the runway), the sweatshirt on Christmas break, and some of the bags… so EVERYTHING I made was a brand new, first time doing something. With the schedule I had set for myself, I had no room for mistakes, so it was a bit of pressure I had created for myself… I guess I just did it.
I started by taking the phrases I had developed and adding colors to accompany them to fit the emotions trying to be conveyed based on the items order in the show, because I wanted the runway to be symbolic to someone gradually realizing their potential because of the gifts God has given them, and that the world needs someone like them… to then, eventually walking in that purpose of telling other people the same… that they are wanted, loved, and have purpose.
Once I had a basic understanding of some of the colors I wanted to use for each item I got to sketching out ideas for items, working with different shapes, a mix of bold geometric shapes to smooth, easily digestible organic shapes. Typically associating the organic shapes with blues and greens and more peaceful items, then using more of the geometric shapes with black, brown, and red/pink to portray strong, powerful, assertive energy that those combinations provide. I tried my best along the way to make notes on the sketch’s paper of things I need to be on the lookout for material/blank wise and ideas on how to construct it because I don’t technically “know what I’m doing” so I was winging it ALL.
With sourcing, I had allot of ways of going about it, but mainly it was me going to the bins by myself and occasionally with a friend to try to find anything I could get to assist in the collection or any other dope stuff I could use (or just have for myself lol) … I also had some assistance from my homies Nico Maldonado (modeled look no. 6) and Matthew Fears. Both of them run vintage resell businesses and are OG brand supporters… (Nico - Take 2 / Matt - Broke in Apparel) …. I specifically owe Nico for handling the sourcing of the workwear jacket that was the blank canvas for the puffer heart jacket (look 14) ……. it was a grind to get everything sourced considering everything had to be specific to colors/materials/shape/etc. to fit the themes and positions in the runway but we got it done.
This collection, like I said, was and is an extension of how I feel, not only about myself…but about those around me, and the world. As I go through each look, I will give a short explanation of each piece. This is a story, a story of someone realizing their value and purpose. If you want to see the process of making each piece check that out on our Instagram (reels) or TikTok.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Orlando Pelagio ( IG: @orlandopelagio )
Samuel Wassef ( IG: @_wamuel / @wamsfilm )
Joseph Gennaro ( IG: @josephgennaro_ )
LOOK #1
MODEL ( IG: @iamjackpegram )
The first look is made up of our first logo tee and a pair of paisley shorts with denim patches sewn into them. The flag was cut from a roll of material I randomly found; I sewed an earth I made into the flag, and then used one of my homie's big stencils I'd seen laying around and white spray paint to create the lettering.
[STORY]: Imagine with me that each of these models are the same person, a person that is undergoing a process to realize their worth and value/their passion and purpose. This person comes down the runway dressed in subtle colors with a blank, somewhat depressed looking facial expression, but the concept is introduced to them that "The World Needs Someone Like Them (You)". They go on about their life...
LOOK #2
MODEL (IG: @samuel.samson.vincent)
The second look was made up of an experimental shirt and patchwork jorts. The shirt you see was printed on the back saying "The World Needs Someone Like You", with an earth sewn into it. I then sewed that white shirt on the navy blue shirt. The shorts were made from denim scraps and built out to custom fit the model. Fluid shapes are used on the shirt to calmly portray the encouraging message. While the jorts are more geometric, giving off stronger/confident vibes. Overall, this is still introducing the concept of the collection, lots of fluid shapes with green and blue being the primary colors of most items. This was chosen to have an encouraging phrase be easy to digest without large, bold, graphic lettering or colors.
[STORY]: This person is still struggling but is told again that the world needs someone like them. This provides a sliver of confidence.
LOOK #3
MODEL (IG: @tonyybarraaa)
The third look was made up of our higher end sweatshirt and bleached/paint splatter pants with a faded hit of our logo across the crotch area. The sweatshirt seen was printed on with "The World Needs Someone Like You" and a brief brand mission about purpose-driven fashion on the front pocket. I then spent multiple hours figuring out how to get these green and blue patches sewn under the sweatshirt along with the earth patch. After I sewed the patches in, I cut out the fabric on top from the original sweatshirt. This continues the same color pallet as the two looks before but is a bit crazier with the overall look.
[STORY]: This person continues going through life and still doesn't realize their value and purpose
LOOK #4
MODEL (IG: @rudeboyguliani)
Look four is made up of an experiment with workwear, maybe I could call it "blue-collar fashion." This look was me playing with items like a vintage dress-shirt item in a simple way that was a bit outside of my comfort zone. The front left chest area has a smaller print of "The World Needs Someone Like You." On the back of the shirt, there is an earth sewn in, with the brand mission printed below. The pants were just black denim that were just splattered paint on.
[STORY]: Our character in the story doesn't listen to those around him that express that the world needs him
LOOK #5
MODEL ( IG: @bethany_zenil)
The fifth look was a crewneck sweatshirt that was the first "Piece of Mind" item. It had a print on the back of that phrase and a patchwork heart on the front. I then built out a skirt from denim patches. The bag was from the first show I did (seen earlier in this blog).
[STORY]: This big idea of "piece of mind" is introduced to the individual, something he has been searching for
Look 6
MODEL (IG: @nicooo.maldonado)
The the sixth look was another take (similar to look 4) a bit outside of my comfort zone, but with doing these items I've expanded what I like working with. It was a short sleeve polo that I sewed a patchwork heart into the left chest and a small "piece of mind" print on the right chest. I then sewed sleeves from a white long sleeve shirt under the arms of the polo and cut the polo sleeves off. For the back logo print, I cut out a test print from a white tee and sewed it under the polo, then cut the piece above it off. The pants were plain black dickies that Nico gave me to use. I then used pockets I had cut off from other pants and sewed them into the dickies.
[STORY]: the "baggage" held in the pockets representing all the things that hold us down from TRUE peace, the difficult heavy steps along the way to "Piece of Mind". this problem is realized.
Look 7
MODEL (IG: @_.jak3e)
The seventh look was my first take on loungewear/comfy fashion. The look including our "Piece of Mind" hoodie, with a patchwork heart on the left chest, brand mission statement on the front pocket, and large "Piece of Mind" print on the back... a simple yet different look that is unique every time. The pants were a mix of colors starting to transition to the next theme.
[STORY]: The fluid shapes and soft colors mixed with a comofortable set of clothes, represent our character resting in true piece (peace).
Look 8
MODEL (IG: @aaronkizer)
The eighth look... the pants being one of the first pieces I made and a true challenge to build out patchwork pants without a pattern, also custom fitting the model... over a hundred pieces to make the pants. The shirt is the first item of clothing I made for this collection, including a patchwork heart and a print of 'Piece of Mind" on the back... simple but clean.
[STORY]: realizing the confidence that comes with having "Piece of Mind"... confidence from security in God
Look 9
MODEL (IG: @connorvicary)
The ninth look was a super cool piece made from white Dickies overalls, with hearts sewn in all over, a print of the brand mission the chest, and an introduction to "Spread Love" on the back pocket. The colors were selected to transition from the blues and greens of "The World Needs Someone Like You" and "Piece of Mind" to the red and pinks of "Spread Love." These white overalls with hearts sewn into them also seem to be odd for a guy to wear, as being an overly loving person is seen as a sign of weakness, but it is a sign of strength.
[STORY]: the piece of mind that our character has gained has allowed him to have joy in his life. people spread love to him through different small interactions...
Look 10
MODEL (IG: @babytaeya)
The tenth look was made up of basically pajamas... sweatpants with hearts sewn into it and a cropped brand logo t-shirt. The cool part about this look was the weighted pillow that was made out of scraps sewn inside a heart pillow with the print "Spread Love" and the brand mission below it.
[STORY]: realizing the comfort that comes through freedom in God
Look 11
MODEL (IG: @abe_rapp32)
The eleventh look is a pair of denim pants flared with brown canvas material. The hearts on the pants were from t-shirt scraps, sewn to the pants once they were cut apart to be flared out. The sign was a piece of cardboard with the original packing instructions taped off "handle with care" ... this was not part of the original design, but when I cut the cardboard out to be painted I noticed it and thought it'd be cool, and, in my opinion, it works with the message. Obviously the sign says "Spread Love," continuing that theme.
[STORY]: extreme levels of confidence have been achieved through fearing God and nothing else.... now spread love to others!
Look 12
MODEL (IG: @rach.saunders)
This twelfth look is one of my favorites, the pants were one of the more difficult pieces to make....made from over one-hundred individual denim/canvas heart patches... these pants took about 50 hours to make. The cropped flannel is also a super cool piece, tying in with the first polo (look 4) and the second polo (look 6)... but putting a different spin on it. The heart on the back was printed "Spread Love" on it, a brand tag was sewn into the front left chest pocket, and the brand message sewn under it... and styled with white cowgirl boots with heels.
[STORY]: confidence is only increasing... the difficult things that surround our character and try to beat him down are just molding him into greatness
Look 13
MODEL (IG: @lucasleamer)
This thirteenth look was actually so last minute... the pants were finished as I was leaving for the rehearsal just a week before the show.... and I got the jacket from Nico Maldonado (modeled look 6) the day after the rehearsal because I was trying to find something at the bins but couldn't. I didn't finish it until 1AM the day of the show... I started on it the night before and just hoped it all worked out, with enough time for me to actually sleep before the show. The pants were just denim I distressed and cut up after I printed the logo all over them. The jacket is soooo cool! I made two sided hearts and sewed them into the inside of the jacket. I left a little hole in the hearts to stuff them with plastic bags (from getting drinks and snacks to survive while working on the show) to make them be pushing out of the jacket. I then fully sewed the hearts in and cut out the pieces covering them from outside the jacket to allow them to push out. This was styled with a red shirt underneath it.
[STORY]: spreading love in big ways to those around him
Look 14
MODEL (IG: @ibinnabo)
This look was the first look that didn't really fit into one of the categories of themes for the collection, and was just purely me being creative. The top is made of two crewneck sweatshirts... the black one cropped and then extended with a piece of another sewn in under the other (but up a few inches to give some movement as the model walks). The bottom half of the top was then cropped as well, with our brand mission printed on the bottom left. the pants were a stacked pair of baggy straight leg denim. The look was accessorized with silver jewelry, circular framed sunglasses, black loafers, and one of the original bags from Wash the City's show in Atlas Fashion Show II.
[STORY]: full confidence represented through dedication and focus on the art of proportions and color blocking
Look 15
MODEL (IG: @jacksontgodwin)
The fifteenth look was more of me messing with new pieces... the top was an oversized polo that I cut the sleeves off of and printed the logo on the back and msision on the front (the front is not readable by any means lolol, I messed up the print, it is what it is) .... the pants are similar to look eleven in that I used the same brown canvas to flare them, but the patches are tags, patches, and pieces from all the other pieces past and present to this point in the brand... this pair will never be sold.
[STORY]: everything has come full circle for our character, everything along the way with a realized purposed orchestrated by God
Look 16
MODEL (IG: @daschelbenderbrah)
The sixteenth look was a super enjoyable process to make. It is made up of a blank black pea coat that I sewed white patches into along with the shape of a cross made on the back... after that, me and Dash splattered paint all over it, and also put bleach on it, but we used the wrong bleach lolol... so it just created this powdery effect which looked cool in the end. The last part of building out this coat was adding all the strands of materials from former projects to everything along the way on the edges of the coat and the sleeve cuffs...I even added pieces of plastic bags. either you love this look or you hate it.. I don't think there is much in between
[STORY]: Jesus is what brought us this far, our character has to tell everyone he knows in the biggest way possible
Look 17
MODEL (IG: @annalisparker)
The seventeenth look was a more calm attempt (but in my style) at outerwear with this long trench coat made of leftover pant legs and a jean jacket. I then printed the brand logo on the back and the mission statement under it. There was also a small logo print on the front left chest area.
[STORY]: our character realizes confidence and strength isn't always loud but calm and subtle
Look 18
MODEL (IG: @brockvignery)
This eighteenth look is also one of my favorites and the only piece that I made from scratch. The coat was completely made out of pant legs... I used a pair of pants that were practically perfect fitting to the wingspan of the model... I trimmed them back a bit. The rest was made completely by recycling the other black denim I had. I added the button holes and silver buttons. The look was styled with silver jewelry, futuristic shades the same as look 16, grey sweat/dress pants and black loafers, along with the navy blue hoodie which tied in with the blue of the denim throughout the show and complimented the black washed denim well. There were also pockets on the front and back sewn in. Brock was an incredible help with this and was in the studio assisting me here and there with this piece... The length of the coat is too short to be a traditional trench coat and too long to be a pea coat... so idk what to call it (maybe this just shows how little I know.. idk and idc... it's still fire).
[STORY]: a black coat representing the power of confidence from God Himself that our character has attained
Look 19
MODEL (IG: @fyfe_johnstone)
This nineteenth look was something that was either hated or loved, not much in between....the focus was to challenge what is possible with pieces that are typically thrown away (seams of jeans/other pants). The top was made from a heavyweight crewneck sweatshirt ... the bottoms from vintage denim , both with seams of different pants throughout the show and other scraps. The mask was one of the first pieces I made when starting this brand for an experimental shoot. We decided to add it last minute as it complimented this somewhat avant garde look, it had "The World Needs Someone Like You" painted on the back of it and was perfect for the show to slowly reintroduce that theme again before the last piece... I can't lie, and Fyfe agreed with me that this top literally was so comfortable and low-key felt like a portable, avant garde weighted blanket. I really wanted to portray different directions of movement as the model progressed through the runway...
[STORY]: the movement experienced by our character feels very back and forth and is normal in any pursuit of progress, no matter how strong we think we are...
Look 20
MODEL (IG: @l1zzy_black)
The twentieth look, the finale to the runway was a denim patchwork corset-esque skirt with a detachable/reversible dress with a message for everyone to see. This look was definitely the most difficult... It started with a pair of veryyy oversized overalls, so I had to do some alterations to the fit, and honestly it wasn't quite the perfect fit I wanted, but in the end it worked well enough for how complicated it was. After I added the alterations I built out the skirt portion of it which was simple... my mom worked with me allot on this piece as far as how I could make it functional for Liz to do with the train what I wanted to and the only way I knew would work and I could actually make ... is what we ended up deciding on, which was to cut off the waist of a jean that was Liz's size and build the train off of that.... that way she could remove the train and wrap it around her shoulders and walk out with it on her back, and then reattach it with the message showing for the final walkthrough for it to display "The World Needs Someone Like You".... which is exactly how it worked out.... after everything was built, I took the dress outside and hit it with spray paint to write out "The World Needs Someone Like You"... so that the show ends the same way it began ... giving people hope for the difficult times in their lives... and I pray I made it clear where I find mine ... I suggest you try it
my mom did most of the pinning of the train with all the pieces because I was really running out of time and she killed that because even though I sewed everything together I couldn't have finished without her helping... also Liz was extremely helpful and selfless.... staying in the studio as I struggled in the early process of constructing everything...because like I have expressed before, I was just doing this, I didn't have much of an idea on how the "correct" way to go about working on this was... but maybe that's what makes it what it is... makes it very raw creativity, no lines to color inside of.....
[STORY]: our character has finished the final part of the story... finally able to share what has been experienced along the way, sharing that the "The World Needs Someone Like You" .... yes YOU (the reader, the world needs someone like YOU!)
DESIGNER WALK THROUGH
"model" ( yours truly... IG:@g.a.patterson ... I'd rather you follow IG: @createdoneofone though)
This show was a wild little ride and just a taste of what God is going to do with this brand and the creativity and vision He has given me...
I'll talk more about my mental process and difficulties throughout the show, but I will not claim that this was a fit lol ... the pants are the first patchwork pants that I made and the bag was the first item I ever sewed.... I printed on this very oversized Carhartt tee because It was the only shirt that I could grab last minute and I printed the logo on it as I was running out the door the day of the show... I think that also added to how pale I was, because I hadn't seen daylight in like months (jokes ... but like honestly, I was such a little monk during this whole process, barely did anything but work on da show)
POST SHOW
The show after party was super fire. Logan and the Atlas Fashion Show team put on an incredible time for everyone to enjoy with an incredible mix of drinks and charcuterie board snacks for everyone to enjoy; they also allowed each of the designers to have a little market of anything of their work or collection they wanted to sell.... people at the show were so kind and showed so much love to me after the show, absolutely showering me with compliments and purchasing tons of pieces which was so helpful and encouraging.
Orlando and Sam both got some incredible pictures of me and friends/family that I will cherish for life, thank you both so much
Atlas Fashion Show III feature in Arizona Foothills Magazine "Best of Our Valley '23"
Thank you so much for including this picture of me and my family in the article, and for putting two of my pieces from the show in the second picture.
This show was an emotional, physical, and spiritual rollercoaster.... I think I experienced my biggest spiritual/mental highs and lowest spiritual/mental lows, and definitely let myself go physically, my roommate said I spent an average of one night per week (Sunday - because the studio was closed) actually sleeping a full night.... my diet consisted of fast food on campus and gas station snacks. I really survived off Red Bulls from Jayce (shoutout Jayce). I genuinely believe I spent the last month barely seeing the sun... having ZERO social life. The only time I actually spent time with people was the models when they would come over to chill/get fittings/adjustments made - ya'll kept me sane.... to be real , I treated myself like a robot ... not a human, that needs to enjoy life, actually eat sleep and interact with people...but I believe God had a purpose for that time. I spent so much time in deep thought ( I got to know ME veryyy well ) and learned allot about areas I needed to grow as a person. This show, like I've said was an extension of the incredibly difficult journey I have had with anxiety, depression, OCD, etc... and by God's grace, the progress I have made in that area of my mental framework. I really love people so much... and just want to see the hurting experience healing, the worried experience confidence, the hopeless experience hope, and the gifted be given inspiration... my improvements in the things I've struggled with give me desire to help others. I absolutely destroyed myself (genuinely could have been in a hospital) to get this collection done to the level I did... which is so counter what I was preaching in the show... and I've experienced burnout, but not to the level I felt after the show, and I still pushed myself to keep doing popups before I left AZ....when I got home I planned on getting the online store built fast and working on everything but I just couldn't do anything, I was so broken... during the show I had lots of things that were holding me back and dragging me down that I didn't have the time to address and it forced me, once being home, along with needing rest, to do nothing but catch up with myself this summer and rest....REALLY rest, which I can't lie, I don't know if I've ever done. In that time I got allot of personal work done... life had genuinely caught up with me, so it was necessary. For the brand, I did nothing but work on the logistics of being moved to Ohio and source stuff for this fall, which pretty much brings us to now..... a collection that started in December of last year and debuted on April 1st, to be dropping very soon.... was it what I planned? no... but it is all coming together perfectly in God's perfect timing, and I can't wait to share this collection, the mini capsules associated with it that I am hoping to drop later this fall and in the winter, and what I've started on for spring and summer.... THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN ME AND THE IMPACT I WANT TO HAVE..... THE WORLD NEEDS SOMEONE LIKE YOU!!
that's the end of my thoughts, now it's time to show appreciation to everyone that played some roles in this process.
THANK YOU!!!!!! to all of the following people: First and foremost Jesus Christ for giving me the talents and abilities I have been blessed with to do this, the Atlas Fashion Show team for all of the unbelievable sacrifice and kindness to have given me and the other designers a space to share what they love to do ( Logan Glennie, Xane Pasley, Jordyn Schneider, Rachel , etc..), to Arizona Foothills Magazine for sponsoring the event and featuring Atlas in the magazine, the photographers/videographers ( Orlando Pelagio - I also appreciate the kind words after the show you shared with me - truly will stick with me and means so much, Sam Wassef, Joseph Gennaro) my incredible mom for just being who she is to me, my aunts for flying to watch, my second moms Mollie Pegram (also for the sewing machine she gave me) and Amy Light for flying to watch, other friends and family, Xander Pasley for the audio being mixed for the runway, Jayce Candrea for allowing me to use his screen printing equipment and guiding me in early stages of learning how to print and for using my bags in your show in Atlas II, Elijah Borja ( one of the other designers ) for consistently pushing me in all aspects and being my brotha, all the incredible models ( IGs are next to photos above - Jack Pegram, Sam Vincent, Tony Ybarra, Guliani Runion, Bethany Zenil, Nico Maldonado, Jake Watts, Aaron Kizer, Connor Vicary, Taeya Umipig, Abe Rappuhn, Rachel Saunders, Lucas Leamer, Ibinnabo, Jackson Godwin, Daschel Bender, Annalis Parker, Brock Vignery, Fyfe Johnstone, and Liz Black - thank you as well to anyone that stayed ready in case a model was sick or unable to attend), Matthew Fears/Nico for selflessly helping along the way and helping with the pop-up shop/ allowing me to use their Z-rack for some of the clothes, Ryah Gilbert for being a huge help to running the pop-up and packing up what was left, and Caleb Theisens...my freshman year roommate for helping to keep me somewhat sane, allowing me to bounce ideas off him, helping with the pop-up and so much more... Brock and Dash again for coming all the time to the studio to help out with the process, Nico for supplying the jacket for look 13's base workwear jacket, Connor and Jack G for pushing my business mind and stopping in to keep me pushing, Liz and Rachel for coming by the studio all the time to allow me to work on their looks as they were both very difficult, every other model that went out of their time to ensure everything was going according to plan for me, selflessly sacrificing their time for me, to everyone at the show that was in attendance ... showing love in so many ways... being energized and vibin with what I shared, copping runway pieces and the first items I sold to the people, reposting show stuff, sharing kind words after the show and on gcu's campus and the support everyone is still showing despite me dropping out and moving back to Cincy... to the person (who I will keep nameless that came up to me sharing how a friend of theirs was emotionally moved and encouraged by my brand's portion of the show- that means the world and may be the most meaningful portion of the night), to anyone I forgot to mention THANK YOU.... there are too many people and groups to name....
AND thank you (the reader) for peering into my mind and diving into this community we are creating ... till next time we drop ... go shop the collection / other stuff / it's live by now