As Winter Quarter at SCAD ends, seniors at SCAD are preparing and highly anticipating graduation in the Spring. Seniors are finishing up their senior duties and classes, and my friend Amira Johnson is finishing up her senior collection as a fashion design major. Amira is excited about her collection and her next steps after graduation.
Hayley Harris (HC): When did you start to pursue your love for fashion?
Amira Johnson: I would have to say Fashion has always been a part of me. As a child, I always wanted to personalize my own aesthetic at a very young age. I taught myself to sew at the age of 8 years old.
HH: Tell me about your senior collection. What inspired it? What are you trying to communicate with your designs?
AJ: Bold, political, silenced, beautiful, history, and religious statements. I chose to do streetwear for my collection because of my surroundings and what I see every day. I asked my mom “Why does the suburb always look so nice, while the hood looks like the hood?” It actually upset me because I really wanted to know why one social class appears to be doing better while the other one looks like poverty. The Hood inspired me to tell stories within my clothing. To communicate the struggle, yet showing the strength, beauty and ambition people hold regardless of their circumstances. My collection is to make people feel an emotional way towards my clothing.
HH: How does your line reflect you?
AJ: My line reflects me because it shows my creative interest and how organic I am as an individual through life and art. It reflects me because I like to talk about things that people don’t like to talk about, such as worldly things and God.
HH: Give me a phrase that describes your collection.
AJ: Silenced Truth
HH: If you had a mission statement, what would it be?
Continuously water your flowers, don’t let your fire burn out, live life with truth. Spread art, love and happiness. Be insanely great with your craft, and breathe.
HH: One big goal you have for your line and brand?
AJ: To be a living legend and to become a world-wide movement in a positive manner.
HH: What do you love most about fashion design?
AJ: The freedom of expression and accomplishing the thought of impossibilities.
When I met Amira freshman year at SCAD of 2013, she already established her image as a designer. She is an original. Someone who not only wears a unique ensemble reflecting her own vivid, bold and creative personality, but she also wears her own organic creations. If you ever see Amira at SCAD, don’t hesitate to say hey and compliment her style.
After all, she is a fashion icon in the making.