Barbed Fawn began in 2025 as an exploration of two things I’ve always loved: printmaking and sustainable fashion. What started as a creative outlet grew into an independent alternative fashion business, where I curate thrifted pieces in need of a little love and transform them into unique, wearable art.
The Barbed Fawn brand emulates my most personal values: grit, liberation, and vulnerability. Grit and vulnerability, in my view, work hand-in-hand, with tenderness and compassion being characteristics driven by strength and intention. To be vulnerable is to be brave, and with that comes liberation of self and others.
Type and color were the leading elements in designing for my brand. A rich black and popping pink emulate a punchy femininity - something bold and bright.
The type system combines the clean and sharp with the tactile and handmade. The logo and display type, Benguiat Pro is made of bold, curved lines and barbed edges. Westsac, on the other hand, is imperfect and textured, and adds a playful component when paired with either Benguiat Pro, or the main body type, Kohinoor Bangla.
my fawn: soft & gritty
The name Barbed Fawn comes from the tension between two seemingly opposite qualities: the tough and the soft, the gentle and the gritty. That contrast is central to the visual language of the brand and its approach to femininity.
I draw inspiration from punk and alternative fashion, while looking for ways to pair traditionally delicate imagery with something harder or more unexpected. Predator and prey, flowers and their inherent strength, barbed wire printed onto soft fabric - many of my favorite motifs live somewhere between vulnerability and power.
Phrases like “all women are beautiful,” “cool guys cry,” and “perfection is for cowards” extend that idea beyond the visual. Barbed Fawn uses humor, tenderness, and confrontation to question traditional expectations around beauty, gender, and perfection itself.
My process begins with the hunt. I source secondhand clothing with interesting silhouettes, fabrics, textures, and potential, then develop designs specifically for each piece. I carve my designs into linoleum blocks and hand-stamp them onto fabric, often combining printing with patchwork, embellishment, and structural alterations. Sometimes the transformation is as simple as a new print; other times, I rework the structure of a garment entirely. Each piece is sold through markets and online, giving discarded clothing a second life while keeping unique fashion accessible.
relief printing
Relief printing is a process in which an image is carved into a surface, leaving the areas meant to print raised. Ink is applied to those raised areas and transferred onto another surface - in my case, clothing.
I chose relief printing as my primary upcycling medium because it embraces the imperfect. Every hand-pulled print carries subtle variations, making each garment genuinely one of a kind. Uneven ink, unexpected textures, and small imperfections become part of the aesthetic rather than something to hide. The process reflects the larger philosophy behind Barbed Fawn: "perfection is for cowards."
building something independent
I built Barbed Fawn alongside my college education, balancing the creative work of designing and producing pieces with the practical demands of running a small business. Managing sourcing, production, pricing, marketing, sales, markets, and customer relationships taught me skills that extend far beyond making the work itself.
Growing Barbed Fawn taught me how to take an idea from concept to finished product, manage my own time and resources, adapt to real-world feedback, and take responsibility for every part of a creative process. More than anything, it gave me firsthand experience in what it means to build something independently - and the persistence, flexibility, and self-direction that requires.
@barbed.fawn