Intertwined, Sewn Together is a series of photographs featuring a fashion editorial of secondhand clothing, challenging the issue of the “undesirable” in fashion. As a fashion, portrait, and editorial photographer, my work is driven by female perspectives, sustainable fashion, and the interconnectedness between ourselves and nature.

I am a big advocate of thrifting and buying secondhand clothing. A big issue as to why people often choose well-known brands over a thrift store is because of the marketing. We rarely, if ever, see fashion editorials shot with models wearing secondhand clothing. In this series, I've photographed my own fashion editorial displaying clothing pieces that were purchased entirely from secondhand stores. While studying abroad in Scotland, I shot these images in places where I could draw aesthetic connections between the clothing and the landscapes to emphasize our interconnectedness with the environment through our fashion choices. The fur of the Highland cows match the texture of the coat, while the netted bag mimics fish netting found in the ocean. The overall brown, white, and grey color scheme emulates the gloominess of Scottish weather, and tranquility of its landscapes. With these photos, I am aestheticizing clothes in the way that high-end fashion brands would, but with “undesirable” clothing pieces.

In taking these images, I believe that we don't have to own or wear expensive clothing to feel beautiful. There is beauty in the “undesirable”. As consumers, we have the power to make more sustainable choices in the clothing that we choose to wear. It can be difficult to escape the ease of fast fashion from time to time. High-end designers create pieces that are too expensive for the average person, creating a need for lower-priced pieces to be marketed and bought, ultimately ending up in our dumps and oceans. However, I think it's important to separate ourselves from this destructive narrative of beauty in the fashion industry, and focus on what's really important to us. The trees, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, the cool air against our skin. The intrinsic relationship between fashion and nature is ultimately shaped by us, and the choices we make as consumers.