CURTAIN CALL

"Curtain Call" exists in the space between spectacle and collapse. This collection aims to place a spotlight on our desensitization to gun violence as it has remained quietly ingrained into our cultural landscape. It circulates through pop culture, media, and routine until it is no longer shocking, with its effects lingering unnoticed. While trends changed and teenage heartthrobs aged, the violence remained, quietly intertwined into our everyday lives. Design elements such as line, shape, and form parallel to "Cabaret," a world of performative decadence teetering on the verge of doom. Glamour and danger coexist here, merged together by sharp lines and nuanced fabrics hidden in plain sight. There is indulgence without innocence, elegance without consideration, and grandeur without recognition. The tension between theatrics and impending ruin shapes each silhouette. Adorning a body that knows something is wrong, yet keeps dancing. Textiles serve an important purpose in this collection. Black Kevlar®, a functional, bulletproof material, is used in tandem with black wool, a textile representative of uniform and civility. The Kevlar® is both on display and camouflaged with the wool. This duality reflects a cultural shift in how protection and threat are perceived. Armor is no longer dramatic; it is expected. Violence is not announced; it is absorbed. This collection is a curtain call—one last moment of recognition before the lights rise and the illusion breaks. It is, however, not an ending, but rather the start of a new chapter. It’s the moment when the applause ends and the renaissance begins. Begging the audience to look at what hides beneath the surface. Open the curtains.