Christine Alcalay, fashion designer, USA

I came to this land floating on the salty waters that rocked the make-up of the DNA of my ancestors. The grit on my hands come from ocean water dried after coming out from the depths of the sea. The salt runs through the veins of history. My grandfather worked on the salt beds with the sun beating on his body that later created florets of sun tattoos all over his skin. I used to stare at them and connect the dots of what my future could look like on the reverse side of his palm. He had salt on his hands. It was salt that seasoned my early years with the flavor of hard work & marinated struggle. It was the taste of those salty tears that ran down my face reaching the corner of my mouth and gave me a taste of all things savory. I like my Martini dirty, garnished with bamboo pricked olives in a glass chilled on ice. I’ve passed on this love for this briny, salty and smooth flavor. It’s the kind of salty that makes your mouth water and the sweeter things, sweeter. It’s the kind of salt that is the goodness in a person. My daughter Thy-Lan, she makes a killer martini.

Fashion has always been in my life. From a young age, I was thrown into its seams because it was what my mother did to ensure a future for us in a new country after leaving Vietnam. I grew up with fashion as if it were a family member, constant and unrelenting. We ate, slept and lived with heaps of clothing around us. My relationship with fashion has changed through the years as I realized that the garments that were made not only fed us but they clothed us and secured our futures. The clothes that we wear can change how we feel and thus change the way we live in our world. I set out to study and work in fashion so that I can give people the clothes they emotionally and physically need to be the best selves in whatever capacity they are in. My namesake collection is inspired by iconic women of the past and present and designed for the iconic women of present and future. I believe that fashion can be a tool and transformative for the person who wears it. I make clothing for the woman who has a story to tell.

She’s the woman that walks into the room and everyone wonders who she is. Standing tall, strong and graceful, she’s generous with her smile, and there is a connectedness to her gaze. She looks for the meaning in everything she does and does not take for granted the path that she walks. She understands that we all make an imprint on this world the way the world and her past has made an imprint on her. That bold and unforgettable woman.

My relationship to clothing has changed because instead of telling the story of some made-up person, I have tapped into my soul and journey as a woman. I’ve realized that I have a story to tell and I tell it through clothing.