Our team began by researching architecture, movement, and modern womenswear. We became especially inspired by the work of Zaha Hadid because of her ability to merge geometric structure with fluid motion. That balance became the conceptual foundation of ALLUDE.

We explored the idea of dressing for real life—how women constantly transition between responsibilities, environments, and expectations throughout the day. We wanted our garments to support that movement while still feeling polished and intentional.

The visual direction of AXIS emphasized words like fluid, modular, dependable, timeless, adaptable, and curated.

We developed a detailed consumer profile centered around a modern professional woman who values versatility, longevity, and elevated essentials.

To better understand our market positioning, we researched retailers such as:

• Alexander Wang

• Saks Fifth Avenue

• Neiman Marcus

• St. Agni

• Manière De Voir 

We also studied TikTok reviews, Instagram styling content, and consumer unboxings to understand how women engage with modern luxury and contemporary ready-to-wear brands.

We created inspiration boards, color palettes, textile boards, and print developments that visually communicated the mood of the collection. Using Adobe Photoshop, we built moodboards and visual presentation layouts inspired by architecture, movement, and modern femininity.

The palette focused on architectural neutrals, black plum, tobacco brown, steel gray, and medieval blue tones. We selected cotton-rich fabrics ranging from lightweight voile to heavyweight canvas and bull denim. We also developed custom prints such as Matriarch, Trailblazers, and Motion to reinforce the collection’s structured yet fluid identity.

The design process began with 30 initial sketches, which were refined into 8 finalized looks after critiques and revisions. We used Adobe Illustrator to transfer our sketches into clean digital flats, allowing us to clearly communicate garment construction, closures, proportions, and design details in an industry-standard format.

We developed silhouettes and technical details while balancing comfort with architectural sophistication. One of my favorite looks featured a black plum jersey top with adjustable ruching paired with a layered skirt, emphasizing adaptability, softness, and movement.

As part of the project, our team traveled to North Carolina for a field study sponsored by Cotton Incorporated through their CottonWorks™ program.

During the trip, we toured the cotton warehouse and production facilities to better understand cotton sourcing, textile manufacturing, fabric construction, and sustainability practices within the apparel industry. This hands-on experience gave our team a stronger understanding of how raw materials move through the production pipeline and directly informed our textile and sourcing decisions throughout the collection.

Each team member created a digital t-shirt using CLO-3D to gain experience with 3D garment visualization. We also completed technical development materials including:

• Cost sheets

• Technical packages

• Line sheets

• Assortment plans

• Store allocation plans

• TechPack

This process strengthened our understanding of how creative concepts translate into production, merchandising, and retail planning.

Our team extended the AXIS experience beyond the garments themselves by creating a complete marketing and collateral strategy.

We designed:

• Sustainable packaging

• Hangtags

• Shopping bags

• PR postcards

• Website mockups

• QR code integration

• Pop-up concepts

• Jewelry collaboration concepts with Astor & Orion

We focused heavily on minimal, architectural branding that reflected the collection’s values of intentionality, versatility, and modern femininity.

At the end of the semester, we professionally presented the ALLUDE collection in New York City at Crescala. Our final critique was led by industry professional Jodi Sandman, who reviewed our brand development, garments, marketing strategy, and technical execution.

Presenting the collection in a professional New York fashion environment gave me valuable experience communicating creative ideas to industry professionals and strengthened my confidence in presenting collaborative design work at a high level.