Aphrochic Magazine: Issue No. 7

Fashion
forcing it to be cool, whether or not it actually is. But when I
saw you start putting out the first images of the new line on
Instagram, it felt really magical. It felt organic and very unforced.
And a lot of it surrounded this concept of “her” that seems to be
very much at the center of it all. So who is “her” in this collection?
How are you defining that and how does it work as connection
point for your audience?
CH: The great thing about that pronoun is that, as we are
navigating a world that is less binary, less gendered in general,
the ideas around pronouns are just far more expansive. So there
are a few different answers. My primary “her” is always my
mom and those matriarchs that taught me about beauty, who
showed me its complexity and evolution, and how to use it as a
tool. Also, because the “her” in me is reflective of their “her,”
the years of understanding and nurturing those places in me
that are softer, more nurturing, and more feminine, have really
helped round out my design perspective and my experience
as a human in the world. And when I do that for myself, I'm
much better at doing that for my customer base. Beyond that,
the “hers” in my life, the women, the people, peers, I find so
inspiring just watching them live, watching how they navigate
oppression in such a beautiful way. Seeing them be women in
the world, navigating misogyny and sexism, without sacrificing
those parts of themselves that the oppression targets. And then
the earth, which is kind of this newer priority for me. Coming
to Cali really helped remind me of who I am as a country boy
and loving the earth and seeing the earth as my first canvas,
my first playground. It's wonderful to remember the earth as
the first and primary resource that we have and prioritizing
it. It is not just cute, it is imperative. So it's all of those “hers”
collectively. And I think I just noticed I was habitually aligning
myself with the feminine. So I just made it a concrete decision,
one that’s to the benefit of every customer.
JH: You studied architecture and textile design. How does
that fit in to your fashion aesthetic and what you're creating now?
CH: Studying architecture was one of the most important
foundational things that I did. I didn't complete my degree in
it because midway through I found that the tactile nature of
textiles gave me a sense of joy and immediacy in the process
of design that I adore, and the long lead of architecture was
just something that wasn't quite right for me then. But what
architecture represents is just my love of building things, of
constructing things or configuring things. And that's how
I approach fashion. It is building. I love the challenges of
construction. I love when I have an aesthetic idea, and then
working backward to figure out how do we actually build this
thing? That really excites me and it shows up in my work, in
construction but also in textile design, and everything. Textiles
and fibers become the bricks I use to build dresses or suits or
whatever it is. And I love all of it. That's why I comprehensively
adore the process of fashion design.
JH: We’ve spoken at a number of schools and met with Black
students who were studying architecture, and they were having
a really tough time. In many cases we found that the school was