Lindsay Nguyen

“Key Largo, a place in Florida, USA. However, my inspiration didn’t solely come from the name itself but the way the colour represented with me in my world.

This deep ocean blue colour is described as calmness and serenity, representing the sky and the sea with association to freedom, open space and imagination.

I searched in my world where a colour like Resene Key Largo stood out to me and remembered a fond memory when I visited my family’s village in Vietnam and saw a boat floating in the sea, exactly like the colour Resene Key Largo. Thinking back to all those years ago, I remember the thoughts of the brightness of these boats in contrast to the murky water beneath it as the waves rocked the boats back and forth.

I took inspiration from this boat and the waves in the sea to create my Resene look with the structure of the boat’s roof located on the bodice of the garment. For the waves in the sea, I wanted it to be represented in two elements as not all waves in the sea are one and the same. For the trousers, it represented the rougher waves which symbolises the more difficult times in life, the not so glamourous. The soft, flowy sleeve represents the certainty of where I stand in my life, the stability.

I wanted to be more in tune with my culture by finding a marriage between Vietnam and nature while also creating an edgy and contemporary look. While the colour blue has a well-known association with sea and sky. I wanted to give that theme a twist to add a more personal flair on how it relates to my world. I gave this look the name Ocean Eyes as this look is inspired by the ocean as well as the symbolism the ocean has to my life though my eyes while also paying homage to the name Key Largo, an island surrounded by a beautiful body of water.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2022

Photography by Jonathan Kraettli

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