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A Houston fashion designer reportedly recently created a signature collection to reflect both elegance and endurance.
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O’Rhonde Chapman said he took his inspiration from survivors of both natural disasters and man-made catastrophes, ranging from the Las Vegas massacre to the California wildfires, as well as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Chapman, a Houston native, also said he lost his home, his car and most of his belongings during Hurricane Harvey, as he waded through chest-high water to escape his flooded Memorial neighborhood.
“In that moment, I realized you have a choice. You have a choice to shut down and mope or you can pick up your fragments and pieces and create,” Chapman said in an interview with a local TV station.
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According to reports, Chapman’s three-dress collection uses materials, such as layered netting, black satin and micro-suede stretch fabric, to symbolize both loss and perseverance through tragedy; he described the colors are mostly dark, without the bright splashes of color usually found in a new designer’s efforts.
Chapman said the dark colors symbolize the “devastation that we go through in life that work together to beautify us & mold us into the masterpieces we were created to be.”
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Despite the losses he and other hurricane survivors endured, Chapman said he wants his collection to stand for hope and positive outlooks in times of loss and sorrow:
“I wanted to be that voice for everybody here and show that we can come together and overcome things despite tragedy.”
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