This week’s Her Campus UMaine Campus Celebrity is a fourth year Anthropology major with a flare for fashion! Brooke Johnson and her sister Tara have been interested in fashion and design since they were young and as they grew up they taught themselves how to sew. With their passion and talent they created, “Brooke and Tara Clothing,” based outside of Boston.
“Since this is is our first experimental line we have been trying out a variety of styles which will ultimately give us more of an opportunity to find a specific style we would want to focus in on for the next line,” says Brooke.
Not only is Brooke dedicated to designing and creating fashion, but she is also dedicated to helping others. Her line Brooke and Tara clothing recently started a project to raise money for a friend who is teaching Biology in Rwanda. They generously donated 20% of their proceeds to the students in the Rwandan school for school supplies.
When talking about her clothing, Brooke says, “Each one of our garments is meant to be an individual piece of art; authentic and original. Our inspirations come from a worldly perspective with each of us bringing our own idea of what we would want to see in a garment.” This sense of ingenuity is just what the fashion world needs and the UMaine community has! Brooke and her sister find their inspiration from costume designers such as Eiko Ishioka and Alexander McQueen.
Brooke said that UMaine influences her in the sense that, “I travel back and forth from New York, Massachusetts, and Maine and sometimes it seems that the farther I get away from New York, the more clothes seem to matter–Not in a “who’s got the trendiest handbag way” but in a look at me, understand me, respect me sort of way. So even though New York people have fun with their attire and express themselves it just doesn’t take on the same meaning around here. For someone to dress differently out here it’s more of a risk, more of an act of bravery. And I think I can relate to that feeling more than anything else, which is the ultimate inspiration.”
Brooke and Tara Clothing will be one of the designers featured in UMaine’s 1st Epic Fashion Show on October 12th, from 6 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Their line will have 6 outfits that they have hand-made and UMaine students will model them! Tickets for the fashion show are on sale for $5. They will be sold all day long at the Foster Center for Innovation and from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Union. There are a limited number of tickets so make sure you get yours as soon as possible!