Currently on view at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Sierra Naomi’s “CRAFT Collective” weaves together artisanal traditions with social justice. “I believe that design is at the heart of solving complex social issues,” says the Eskenazi School fashion design alumna (B.A. 2018), whose work was selected for inclusion in DesignArts 2022 Utah, the annual juried exhibition of the state’s best design. The textiles and marketing materials included in Naomi’s brand concept are a blueprint for the kind of business the designer would like to create – a line of textiles that fosters a more equitable and sustainable community.
Designing at the heart of social issues
On view through September 17, CRAFT Collective includes a tunic, wall hanging, and digital marketing materials for the design collective concept, which “honors artisan weavers and their traditional textile techniques,” according to Naomi’s description for the exhibition catalogue. “CRAFT… foster[s] an evolution of consumerism – where products must benefit the community in order to justify the environmental and human energy they require.” Using 100% natural, biodegradable fibers woven on mechanical looms that do not require electricity, the products in Naomi’s aspirational line would be made by artisans paid a living wage.
Naomi made the tunic on view at the Salt Lake City museum during her senior year at IU. The tunic, and the wall hanging made from the tunic project’s remnants, incorporate a log cabin weaving she made in Textiles II with Adjunct Professor Suzanne Halvorson. “I love open weaves because of the dimension they create,” Naomi says, “and the log cabin weave was something I could handle making as a beginner. It’s still my favorite style of weaving.”
Roots in service
By the time she got to Halvorson’s class, Naomi had long been passionate about fibers, design, and service. She had transferred to IU from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, which she attended by earning a scholarship as an AmeriCorps volunteer in 2014. While studying visual communications at UNM, Naomi worked as a part-time manager at a Lucky Brand store, where her boss noticed her passion for denim construction and dyeing techniques and encouraged her to pursue a design career. On a trip back home to Bloomington, Naomi visited the Eskenazi School “and just fell in love,” she recalls. “I had pivotal mentors through my time at IU. Every single professor I had nurtured my curiosity.”
Her background in community-based work meant that her curiosity extended all the way “from the moment a fiber is created to … [the] impacts of the industry.” Senior Lecturer Mary Embry nurtured Naomi’s passion for sustainability and ethics within fashion design. At the suggestion of Senior Lecturer and Executive Director of Academics Deb Christiansen, Naomi submitted an upcycled design for inclusion in the 2017 Bloomington Trashion Refashion Show. Crafted from a discarded Christmas tree bag, Naomi’s design for the show was adapted for the illustration used in the marketing materials and backdrop for the following year’s event. The design will be included in an exhibition documenting the history of the Trashion Refashion Show to open September 9 at University Collections at McCalla (525 E. 9th St.).
Reclaiming for the greater good
With Christiansen's guidance, Naomi pursued her passion for sustainability in her senior collection -- titled “Lucid” -- which explored sakiori weaving, a Japanese technique using scrap materials. Graduating with high distinction and departmental honors, Naomi went on to positions at Kohl’s, first on the design team and then in product development optimization. Currently, Naomi works as an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader at Clever Octopus, a creative reuse center and nonprofit in South Salt Lake City dedicated to art education, accessibility, and sustainability. At Clever Octopus, Naomi coordinates projects that leverage reclaimed materials to benefit the community. Earlier this year, she designed a prototype for a sensory blanket from reclaimed materials, then coordinated volunteers in fabricating nearly 80 blankets that were then donated to seniors with dementia. Bridging the gap between design and service, the initiative has become one of the nonprofit’s ongoing projects.
Naomi plans to pursue graduate studies at the intersection of design, sustainability, and social impact. Her undergraduate education provided an ample foundation, she says. “More than anything, what the Eskenazi School gave me was a community I could thrive and grow in -- I will always be grateful for that support.”
For more information please contact
Yaël Ksander
Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design
(812) 855-5512
yksander@iu.edu