Sharon Gilmour
’25 Fashion Design
My goal is to create beautiful clothes that are easy to wear and that tread lightly upon the earth. For this reason, I rarely buy new fabric, preferring to construct pieces from materials obtained in fabric swaps, yard sales, and vintage stores. I believe that, like people, clothing can have more than one life. Textiles that have already “lived” give a different energy to their new form, especially when combined and juxtaposed in a creation that bears no resemblance to their original shape or purpose. I seek to demonstrate through my work that sustainability can be beautiful.
This jacket is made from a gift of vintage Hong Kong silk made in the historic, now defunct, Fung Wah factories. The front and back panels were created from a collection of found fabric: lace, Indian muslin, batik, upholstery, and linen damask all held together by embroidery inspired by the Indian Kantha tradition. While the panels are complex, the lines of the garment remain simple and practical (it even has a pocket!) providing an asymmetric frame that speaks to the imbalance between the beauty in the art of fashion and the harm done by the industry to the natural world through pollution and waste.
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Sharon Gilmour is planning her fast approaching, post-retirement career by exploring the world of fashion and textile design through the Certificate in Fashion Design at MassArt. She learned to sew and embroider as a child and is broadening these skills into the development of garments combining fashion and art.
She holds an MA in French from Edinburgh University, an M.Ed. from Northeastern and works as a Business Analyst while plotting her escape from the corporate world
