If you’ve had a chance to look at Instagram lately, you probably know that wearable art designers abound there. In fact, wearable, livable art is a hot fashion trend right now, and when it comes to creating it for customers, artist Sara Anderson is a master. In her studio in Atlanta, she paints and designs beautiful patterns for her luxurious brand of apparel and home décor drawn from her experiences, history and original aesthetic.
Anderson has a boutique location in Northeast Atlanta, but for the most part, her website is the main source of sales. In addition to creating her unique prints and patterns herself from start to finish, Anderson also selects materials that will best represent their finished products online or in a physical store location. She and her team then create the final piece of wearable art. Here, she’s shared with us the process of creating her new products from inspiration to creation.
Sara’s process of creating wearable art starts with inspiration and has been inspired by a life full of fascinating people, world travel, the rich culture of her upbringing in the Southern United States as well as her French and Scandinavian heritage.
To get that creative spark burning bright, Sara draws upon two important elements for her inspiration: Nature and travel. She uses these experiences as a muse to create limited edition fashion garments and home décor accents. For instance, you can see this influence shine through in the delicate cherry blossoms and geisha designs that adorn the back of the Resort Wear Mother Earth Kimono.
She always has an appreciation for a lovely item of clothing that could be current or come from hundreds of years ago and she adds that “a favorite childhood memory is seeing the clothing and costumes of Imperial Russia. Sometimes the inspiration is a photo or a painting.”
Once an idea pops up in her mind about a new product, Anderson does research on fabrics. Then, she develops the design for each item, which she admits “is organic and frankly inconsistent.” She often does small sketches and finds something exciting to start a pattern from, and it could come from an area in a larger work that she may have noticed. She says that she almost always works from her own artwork but sometimes takes license to do other fun things.
One of her latest creations is her “Yellow Tat” pattern used for a napkin. The inspiration behind the print piece comes from the pattern of gorgeous handmade lace that her great-grandmother bought in Spain in the 1930s (Anderson and her daughter, who works with her, came across the fabric recently). This pattern embodies sentiment and links to her own heritage and beginnings.
“I couldn’t resist reprising the delicate pattern and shapes and infus[ing] it with a yellow color.” Anderson and her team played with it until they created the perfect napkin.
As you can see, Anderson’s approach is organic when it comes to creating her wearable art; each print tells a story about an experience she has had or an inspiration she uses to create a specific pattern.
To get to the final design, whether it is something like one of her Resort Wear kimonos or signature fall cloth napkins, Anderson (almost always) starts with her original artwork, then moves it to Photoshop. She completes the entire digital design process there. She finalizes all the designs with color and patterns at the end to make sure everything looks good together.
Currently, if you would like to order Sara Anderson wearable art on stylish and floral kimonos, unique limited edition Silk and Silk/Cashmere scarves, elegant kaftans or gorgeous home goods, the best way is directly through her website’s Shop Our Collection tab. In addition, if you are in the Atlanta area, her designs are sold at her boutique in Druid Hills and at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
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