Clothing in Context: A Collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis

This past semester, 12 Project Lab students participated in a shared experience alongside college students enrolled in Mary Ruppert-Stroescu’s fashion design class. Mary, who’s an associate professor and coordinator of the fashion design program at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, was interested in helping students unpack and visualize the meaning of the things we wear and hold dear. Normandy students and the Wash U students met at Normandy two different times to share insights and ideas about clothing, accessories, style, and meaning. After selecting an item with special meaning, students sketched and wrote about their items. In April, Normandy visited the Wash U classroom for a gallery walk of the group’s creations. Images of this work will be published this spring. Many thanks to Mary and everyone at Wash U and Normandy who making this collaboration possible!