When people ask where I find my inspiration, I always always include student portfolios in my line-up. The work’s pure, there’s time to think things through, it’s not commercially motivated…the list goes on. Of course there’s merit to industry experience, but one life chapter truly balances the other in the world of research and revelation.

Not long ago, I stumbled across some denim experiments from Melissa Avalos. A recent graduate of the Academy of Art University, her textiles are inspired by street art, interior design, architecture and music. The swatches are beautiful, and the bleached color techniques have an instagram and tie-dye like influence.

The creative mood in Avalos’ textiles remind us a bit of Anntian, a Berlin-based designer. Both collections have delicate, tough and translucence textures. Everything’s calm and interesting, a two adjectives driving much of the work we’re seeing today.