Taylor sews fabric in the Sewing Lab in the Home Economics Building, Monday, April 15. Her work was displayed in the Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week runway and helps widows and orphans in Kenya. (Photo by Caroline Potts)
Written by Madelynne Jones
A UA senior has big plans beyond the five outfits she sent down the Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week runway a couple weeks ago. Her passion for “fashion for good” has taken her to Africa twice and to New York Fashion Week this September.
“My passion is for art and colors and patterns. I’ve never been a fashionista or cared that much about what I wear, but I love creating beautiful things,” Anna Taylor, senior, said.
Her line of women’s clothing is a bright collection of African skies, flowers, and vibrant Kenyan prints, hand-dyed by Kenyan women. “I want it to be things you can wear in America. The cuts of the garments are more classic and familiar than the wild things you’d wear in the African bush,” Taylor said.
“It’s not all about you when you buy an outfit, you can give simultaneously. I think a lot of people are catching on and want their purchases to have an impact, to go beyond themselves. It’s exciting to be starting a company right now,” Taylor said.
In her first trip to Africa, Taylor worked with child-run orphanages in Rwanda, then came home to Arkansas and made and sold wire crosses to raise money for the children’s education. “That’s when I first realized that I can use my creativity to help people,” Taylor said. Read More
*Taylor is also an Arkansas Alumni Association Membership Scholar
