Talia Leigh is an accomplished self-taught designer and visual artist, aiming to explore the kaleidoscopic connection between adornment, the human experience and expanded consciousness. She produces garments illustrating movement and beauty, while maintaining the quality and authenticity of her textile handicraft and artistry. Read on to learn more about her recent work .
I understand you were always interested in art, how did you discover that fashion provides the outlet for your creativity?
Growing up I was surrounded by creativity, I had many artists in my family and by default that meant I was frequently participating in creative projects. I dabbled with many forms of artistic expression, however, when I was in college I had a deep desire to discover my true calling. I promptly recognized that creating art and sharing it with the world lit a fire inside of me in a way that formal, institutionalized education could not. When I was able to recognize my needs and honor my process as an artist, I became receptive to inspiration all around me.
While I was not yet using textiles and garments as my artistic medium, soon enough the universe presented me with a sign. This journey as a designer and dressmaker began when I found a folded paper crane hanging in my path on an evening walk; not above me, but right in front of me, as if it was meant for me. I took it home and found a message inside that read, “I don’t look good in photographs because I have the kind of beauty that moves.” My “ah-ha” moment came when I realized that my art needed to move, to come alive – to be a rhythm in motion. This work reminds me every day of the courage it takes to listen to the gifts of fate, serendipity and magic, it’s my wish to imbue my collections and pieces with a sense that of these gifts.
You have a unique work process for designing where you rarely sketch out ideas, could you talk us through this?
It took me a long time to call myself a visionary, but now it seems to be one of the best words to describe my creative process. For collections, a broad theme will materialize and from that point on the visions start to form. I have no control over when these artistic visions appear, but as soon as they do I have to write them down; or create them from start-to-finish before they disappear. Every so often, I can hold on to a vision in my mind for weeks, or even months; others possess this incredible energy as if they need to be brought from the ether into reality immediately. When this happens, it almost feels like divine design channeling: it comes through me, rather than from me. I can pattern, cut, and sew an entire design in minutes or just a few hours. It’s absolutely phenomenal when I think about it. The reason I rarely sketch these visions is that it doesn’t do the inspiration justice; it’s as if the idea needs to go straight from my brain into reality, with no time for interruptions in between. When I work on custom pieces for clients, I have found it helpful to prepare some sketches to convey my vision in alignment with my clients. Although even with custom projects, I prefer to drape and produce 3D representations of a design and send the client photos of this work as we move along in the process.
Do you think being self-taught influenced your work process?
My autodidactic – aka self-taught – process has created a motivation in me that I may not have had otherwise. Although independent education can be challenging at times, for instance the skill gap between myself and my artistic visions, my desire to learn is ever-present, and I think that’s special.
My ideas require that I constantly learn new techniques. If I had a formal seamstress education, I may have had an easier time creating more extravagant pieces, But even without this background, The passion for learning built a lot of character within me, and I’m grateful for that. It takes courage, resiliency, and faith to be in the same room with other designers; these traits define me as a person and an artist.
What inspired you to create Butterfly Kaleidoscope?
This dress represents a very special creation. After many years of using textiles that were readily available, I was able to invest in embroidery technology. This has allowed me to expand creatively, as I can now design my own visionary textiles. The theme of my recent collection, Space Dust, draws upon a futuristic version of what life could be like on another planet, and it is within this vision that the idea for Butterfly Kaleidoscope began to take shape.
I started by embroidering a single butterfly and the ideas started to come, it was hazy. I could see butterflies covering a body, as if they all chose to land on the same person in an ethereal way. That’s all I could see though, they moved around and never held their shape, so I began embroidering butterflies, one after the other, over and over again. As I played with them on my mannequin, the design took shape right in front of me.
The interesting thing about this dress is that the backs of the butterflies are made with a water-soluble material. If the dress gets wet, the butterflies will quite literally dissolve and crumble. This is crazy to think about after the days and weeks I put into this dress, but for some reason I like that aspect. It illustrates a vulnerability around the dress and the butterflies that is so similar to how they are in real life. Knowing that just one simple thing could crumble this dress back into the earth is poetic. It makes me feel deeply for the fragility of life, and that’s really what art should do, right? Make you feel something.
I noticed that the butterflies are overlaid on top of each other in a collage of sorts, how did you create this?
Each butterfly was individually embroidered, cut out, and then hand-stitched onto mesh fabric. As I made the butterflies, I pinned them to my mannequin to get an idea of the shape I desired. I knew I wanted them to overlap as if they actually landed on a body in a cluster, which is something butterflies will do to stay warm. I loved the idea of butterflies flocking to a body to provide warmth. Not only that, but I enjoy coming up with the stories that pair with the theme of the collection, it helps to bring each piece to life in its own unique way.
Were there any challenges working with the materials?
The materials I chose to use – such as a water-soluble backing for the embroidered butterflies – presented many challenges. I was inspired by Alexander McQueen’s Voss where he used found razor clamshells for the dress as a way to give the shells life once again. Like the preciousness of butterflies, the razor clamshells presented the challenge of fragility to McQueen, who eventually surrendered to the shells when Voss fell apart on the runway.
I am hooked by the romanticism of the idea that butterflies, like McQueen’s razor clamshells, are so incredibly fragile and delicate. The butterflies were hard to hand-sew onto the mesh dress, but I wanted a light and breathable textile underneath so that the person wearing the dress would feel like they were nude, and the butterflies were the only thing covering them. For the photoshoot, I had to make peace with the idea that it could rain, and the dress could get wet and disintegrate. I just kept remembering Alexander McQueen’s response when Voss unraveled, “…their [clamshells] usefulness was over once again. Kind of like fashion, really.”
Will Butterfly Kaleidoscope be impacting the future direction of Talia Leigh ? What can we look forward to for the brand?
Butterfly kaleidoscope has been an awakening moment for creativity and skillful production in my lengthy career as a designer. I have always been drawn to the dramatic and artistic realm of couture fashion for a while, and I am excited to develop this side of myself. I’m proud to have elevated my designs into more luxurious and couture creations. A vision I have for this coming year is to create a couture piece for someone to wear on stage or in a magazine. I’ve been manifesting an aligned collaboration, and I’d love to see my work on performance artists Zendaya, Dua Lipa, and Beyoncé. I can’t wait to see who my pieces are meant for! That being said, I’m also maintaining my ready-to-wear collections
I read that you use music to facilitate the process of designing. What kind of music did you use when creating Butterfly Kaleidoscope? If there were particular songs, could you list these?
Channeling my creativity and visions through the medium of music is my favorite way to tap into my design process! For this dress, and this whole collection, I was listening to a playlist curated by a dear friend for a trip to Mexico. The playlist had this blissful-with-a-side-of-thug vibe, and it brought me into the perfect creative space to design. Some of the artists on the playlist include Troyboi, SEB, The Weekend, Arizona Zervas, 21 Savage, Glass Animals, Kaskade, Lane 8, Baynk and so many more. My three favorite songs that were on repeat were: Heat Waves- Diplo Remix , Friends- Night Tales ,Deamons- Massane Remix
To see more of Talia’s work visit her Instagram here or visit her website here .
