This year, three New Brunswick designers - Myself (Dee Silkie), Adrienne Goodine and Chavah Lindsay - were all hand-chosen to be a part of the Cashmere Campaign. This fundraiser, created by Kruger Products, raises money for breast cancer awareness. This is a accomplishment for many designers, for many reasons, one of which is that this year the show was curated by fashion legend Joe Zee.

In the spring, each designer was given a large box filled with bathroom tissue, but it did not arrive in the format you might imagine. The bathroom tissue does not come neatly rolled on cardboard cylinders and it is not quilted and three-plied like the Cashmere bathroom tissue we are all used to buying in a store. The bathroom tissue came rolled up like a huge bolt of fabric. It is wide and very very thin, almost like tissue paper but softer and flimsier. It ripped almost immediately as I ran my fingers over it.

When I realized how delicate this material was, I knew right away that my design had to be carefully thought out. I researched dozens of previous years' dresses and made notes on which designs were the most successfully executed. I tried to find the common themes of what worked and what didn't. Did flowy, billowy gowns look more skillful than stiff ones? Did loose silhouettes wrinkle more or less than form fit pieces? Some of the work was so successfully executed that they didn't even look like bathroom tissue, but like they were created out of the finest silk or most expensive taffeta. I knew I wanted mine to be as good as theirs, but I didn't know how to do that.

What I did know is that this year's theme for the Cashmere collection was Fashion Legends. Since my background is surface design, I made the choice to pick a fashion legend who focuses heavily on embellishment and pattern - Balmain. I kept the silhouette of the dress simple yet classic and decorated it with pink sparkling jewels as a nod to the organization that the money is being raised for; Canadian Cancer Society (CCS).

Once my sparkling little cocktail dress was finished, I sat back and couldn't believe that this wearable piece of art was made almost entirely out of such an unlikely material as bathroom tissue. The fact that the dress could be worn by an actual person almost blew my mind away.

Looking back, I am so proud of the work that I have done, not only on this dress, but also the many years of work that got me discovered for this campaign. As a creative person, I experience high highs and low lows. Some days I know exactly what my purpose on this earth is, and other days I second guess myself. Opportunities like the Cashmere Campaign are what make it worth it and I am sure my fellow NBCCD graduates, Adrienne Goodine and Chavah Lindsay, would feel the same.

Click HERE to vote for one of these amazing New Brunswick designers. Deadline to vote is October 25th, and for every vote, one dollar is donated by Kruger to breast cancer research.

-Dee Silkie
@deesilkie
@doseofdeepodcast
deesilkie.com

Dee Silkie | Bathroom Tissue Fashion

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