Fable & Fame

Fable & Fame is a sustainable upcycled apparel brand I founded and brought to market, encompassing a full visual identity, illustration system, art direction, photography, and launch marketing. The brand's gritty romanticism is inspired by the the conditions of contemporary life in large cities like Seattle, London, and Paris where the streets are lined with both art and trash, simultaneously romantic and utilitarian.

The project took a year to bring to market, in no small part due to screen printing being a much harder skill to learn than I initially expected, but the results have been worth the tremendous lift it took to get here.

This project is important to me because, beyond its role in my life as a playground for exploring concepts in brand identity and illustration, it has also opened a pathway to creating positive change for the future of our planet. While my role as an individual in the fight against climate change is small, through Fable & Fame, I hope that I am not only helping people to choose re-use over new garments, but also educating them on how mending and upcycling are choices we can all make to help reduce the harm that garment and textile production is doing to our environment.

Launching Fable & Fame stretched the bounds of my creativity and skill as an illustrator. I enjoyed exploring the limitations of my own imagination and strengthening my skills in illustration to craft graphics which could scale—both literally and figuratively—and tell the story of this brand identity in many different contexts. I learned a great deal about how far I could stretch the brand's symbolism and stylistic boundaries while maintaining the visual aesthetic of the system I created.

In the future, I'll be working to expand Fable & Fame's offerings to encompass new products. I also hope to collaborate with other illustrators and artists to create micro-collections which co-brand Fable & Fame's signature look with their own aesthetic identities.