THREADED HISTORIES
My senior capstone/thesis, Threaded Histories captures South Asian wearables through a written, designed, and photographed exploration of culture. Surrounding the narratives of nineteen women tied to fashion and beyond, from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, I aimed to preserve the ethnic diversity South Asia offers. As a collection of publications, and original photographs this project serves to stitch together our stories, marking the histories of deeply individual groups of people worthy of celebration and honoring.
The first few weeks were dedicated to the narrowing down of 40+ applicants who found me through marketed colateral posted on social media, in aunty WhatsApp group chats, and on CMU and Pitt campuses. After two rounds of interviews, and understanding the stories of those who brought their histories and vulnerabilities to the forefront, I selected nineteen women.
Through our conversations I found commonalities, experiences shared even when perspectives and countries of origin differed, and following those aligned threads, I formed concepts that became each individual zine: [*] an introductory zine, [1] Pinned & Pressed, [2] Embroidered Legacies, [3] Unraveling the Melting Pot, [4] Mending the Silenced. These essays expound on concepts related to the South Asian cultural experiences. Interwoven text and photo collectively narrate our stories and perspectives through the voices of these nineteen women.
Each zine, bound with recycled saree fabric, includes entirely original photography and portraiture, styled by myself or the model themselves and creatively directed to correlate to the concept/zine the model was assigned to based on our initial conversation and further interviews. All imagery was shot on site at Romi Singh’s, Shingar Boutique in Monroeville, PA where most wearables were sourced. Design-wise, the publications utilize a knitted identification system, that provides one designated knit symbol (from the typeface Yarndings 20) for each person/model mentioned. The symbols come together to form the overarching branded identity, along with other stitched patterning and motifs.
DELIVERABLES - 5 PUBLICATIONS, 5 ORIGINAL ESSAYS WEAVING REAL STORIES AND HISTORIES INTO CONCEPTUAL THINK PIECES, OVER 80 ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Thank you to my spectacular nineteen models: Sahana Chandrakant, Tasnim Rida, Kritika Khati, Namya Kathuria, Sana Hafeez, Bhaavya Manikonda, Aryah Khan, Ilhaam Husain, Esha Sultana, Jenna Gomes, Vasudha Cidambi, Lata Sharma, Pranavi Rohit, Savita Nagaraj, Rishika Agarwal, Sahaja Danthurthy, Priya Kulkarni, Diya Paul, & Amanda Munasinghe.
A special thank you to Romi Singh, the generous boutique owner who made this all happen, as the provider of sarees, jhumkas, a shooting space, and many slices of pizza.
CREATIVE DIRECTION + PHOTOGRAPHY + RESEARCH + WRITING + PRINT