Hazel Lovecraft is paving the way for resources ethically.
Hazel Lovecraft cuts out pieces for her root chakra-inspired dress before winning the Ferris State University Kendall College of Art and Design Award of Excellence for her Ascension collection. — Photo sent
After doodling silly designs on her notes as a child, the 23-year-old’s love of sewing has blossomed into something much bigger.
“I grew up always drawing, always creating,” Lovecraft said. “Ever since I could hold a pencil I have been designing clothes. Like the back of envelopes at church or in class, my notes were scribbled. It’s always been a part of me and I knew I wanted to pursue art in some way, but in high school, I started realizing that I could put these two things that I love together; art and fashion.
Her love of the creative process in the fashion industry earned her the award for excellence from Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design. With recognition like this, the recent Ferris State graduate has only continued to grow her brand: high-quality, spiritual, and sustainable clothing.
After winning academic art awards in high school, the 2017 Greenville High School graduate took a summer fashion class through Kendall before starting college to improve her sewing skills. Lovecraft said that it was this class that really solidified her love for her.
“I was like ‘oh my God. This is it, this is for me. This is what I want to do and where I want to go,’” she recalled. “I loved being around other artists and being able to develop my skills to learn even more.”
Craving more, Lovecraft continued to nurture this side of her. Watching YouTube tutorials and taking apart used clothes only to sew them back together with alterations had been her lifesaver.
As a Greenville native, the resources available for her passion for fashion were few. However, that didn’t stop him from seeing the positive side of her efforts.
Hazel Lovecraft admires the bodice of her root chakra-inspired dress before it won the award for excellence from Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design. — Photo sent
“It’s interesting because there really wasn’t a structure for me,” Lovecraft said. “I had to create my own structure and my own path. I just learned to challenge myself even if no one else had expectations of what I was going to do.”
After winning the award for excellence in Art and Design, Lovecraft felt like he was showing everyone what he could do.
“It was really special. It feels good to be appreciated,” Lovecraft said. “I get stuck in my own bubble where I’m just trying to grind everything down and feel like everything I’m doing is just me freaking out. But once you get to the end, you can celebrate everything you’ve done.”
While her peers may not have had high expectations for Lovecraft, her parents and teachers always knew she was different.
“Since I was little they always knew I wasn’t going to do something traditional,” she said. “My grandmother was a great support for me. She died of cancer a few years ago, so she’s like my guardian angel. Getting to the end makes me think of her. I wish she was here to celebrate with me, but I know I’m making her proud.”
“He would probably give me a big hug,” he added. “She was a cool grandma, she rode a motorcycle so she would probably take me for a motorcycle ride too.”
Greenville High School art teacher Sonja Peterson recognized Lovecraft’s talent and drive early on.
“She just blew me away. She was quite a perfectionist,” Peterson said. “She would be a slave until she was well. She even made her own prom dress for her. I am very proud of her and I am very grateful that she had the opportunity to go to art school and follow her passion. I couldn’t be happier for her. She deserves it.”
Lovecraft attributes his hard-working spirit to his perfectionism.
Hazel Lovecraft helps a model create her Ascension collection. — Photo sent
“I’m just a huge nerd at the end of the day,” he said. “I’m such a perfectionist and so detail-oriented. I love to do everything possible. That includes my process, but even in the end, I’m obsessed with the build. I love making my clothes as beautiful as they are on the outside, just as beautiful on the inside”.
However, sometimes perfectionism can uproot Lovecraft’s struggle with ADHD.
“The academic world has never felt like I fit in and it’s been hard to figure out how to make my brain work like everyone else’s,” he said. “Reading and writing can be difficult… even just to start. Every year I asked myself ‘should I be doing this? I will achieve it? So now it’s kind of surreal because I’m at the end. I’ve made it even though every year I wasn’t sure if I would.”
In his collection, Ascension, Lovecraft makes mindfulness a priority because of these struggles. With yoga and meditation as her foundation, she has become a connoisseur of the seven chakras for her recent collection.
Lovecraft’s award-winning collection was a dress inspired by the root chakra.
“It’s about being grounded,” he said. “The tree symbolizes it because trees have crazy root systems and are super grounded in the Earth, so I wanted my dress to look like the roots of a tree reaching down and grounding the person wearing the garment.”
Lovecraft was assigned to make only three garments, but due to his drive, he made seven different looks to complete his collection.
Hazel Lovecraft’s sketchbook with ideas and brainstorming for fabric design. — Photo sent
With her next project in the works, she’s working hard to focus on her core values.
“I want them to feel like they’re playing dress-up,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to recreate; my experience as a child playing with clothes. You know when you play dress up you say ‘I’m a princess so I’m going to wear a crown’ and then you really believe that’s who you are. So it’s living a fantasy.”
Lovecraft compares fashion to some kind of language.
“Fashion is really powerful. It’s like a language that we use every day to communicate without thinking, without words,” she said. “I’ve always been a shy person, so I think fashion has been my outlet…people get an idea of who I am at first glance.”
Lovecraft is not only passionate about these techniques, but also takes sustainability very seriously. With zero-waste patterns starting to come to the forefront of designers’ minds, she says it’s easier to follow the movement.
Hazel Lovecraft’s sketchbook with ideas and brainstorming for fabric design. — Photo sent
“Fashion tends to be a very wasteful industry,” said Lovecraft. “I am really inspired by sustainability. I think that’s the future and I don’t want to cause harm in my work. Cause less damage to the environment and have fair and safe conditions for everyone who is part of my team”.
Lovecraft’s next big project includes a gallery fashion show in August. Once again paving her own path, instead of presenting a traditional fashion show, she wants fashion to become art again. She said being able to get up close to a garment in a gallery is a much more intimate interaction.
As her college life draws to a close, Lovecraft is excited for what is to come. After these years of school work, the search for her own fashion brand seems to be on the horizon.
“I can let go of that (college) and be happy,” he said. “I can finally live life the way I’ve wanted all this time.”
Source: www.thedailynews.cc