THE UNWRITTEN ARCHIVE PROJECT
The Unwritten Archive is a design-led research project that explores how storytelling, materiality, and apparel can function as a living archive of Black women’s lived experiences. Grounded in interviews with 50 Black women across Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean, the project investigates how identity, memory, and expression are communicated through hair, clothing, and adornment.
Rather than relying on traditional, text-based archival systems, this work proposes an alternative: an embodied archive that exists through objects, garments, and spatial experiences. By translating oral histories into patterns, textiles, and wearable forms, The Unwritten Archive challenges systems of erasure and repositions design as a tool for preservation, representation, and cultural continuity.
TEXTILE | ARCHIVE | EXPERIMENTATION | MIXED MEDIA | INTERVIEWS
Fabric Swatch Archive
Swatch No. 34 - Held in Light
“These spaces have, in a sense, kind of pushed me into embracing who I am because I feel like you receive nothing for neglecting those sides of you, because I feel when you aren't genuine in those spaces.”
Keeny, 25, Texas
Held in Light considers identity revealed through authenticity. cyanotype-inspired forms and light impressions symbolize truth and visibility. The design reflects identity as multifaceted and shaped by lived experience. Light acts as a guide, uncovering self-awareness over time. It frames black womanhood as expansive, grounded in truth, faith, and presence.
Swatch No. 09 - Assembled Self
“I am an individual person filled with individual cultures, and it just, it makes me feel so much more powerful in my heart. Like my heart, I feel like it grows a couple of sizes when I dress like myself.”
Bree-Ann, 22, Florida
Assembled Self views identity as constructed through culture, experience, and choice. Patchwork elements with varied textures represent multiple influences forming a cohesive whole. The design emphasizes individuality and complexity, reflecting identity as layered rather than fixed. Dressing becomes an act of expression, bringing those layers into view
Swatch No. 15 - Our Own Narrative
“I feel like being a Black woman, you just have to be your authentic self. Don’t try to fit into somebody else’s narrative. We are our own narrative. We are our own definition.”
Guinevere, 18, Florida
Our Own Narrative explores identity as self-defined, shaped by culture and lived experience. The hibiscus symbolizes resilience and heritage, while layered textures and rhythms reflect identity as fluid and evolving. The design balances tradition and individuality, proposing that black womanhood is authored from within—an unfolding story grounded in culture yet open to change.
Swatch No. 48 - Wrapped Language
“My identity is more of like my heritage as far as where I’m from, geographically speaking, and then just sort of those individual experiences that make me an individual that’s unique, that doesn’t necessarily lead with the color of her skin.”
Chelsey, 40, Texas
Wrapped Language views fabric as a form of expression. Draped, layered forms echo scarves and headwraps, symbolizing identity communicated through gesture and style. The design reflects heritage, individuality, and lived experience, suggesting that textiles hold memory and meaning. Identity becomes an ongoing conversation shaped by ancestry, perception, and presence.
Swatch No. 28 - Ease Blooms
“There’s a strength in rejecting having to struggle all the time or carry everything on your own.”
Chika, 28, Texas
Ease Blooms centers joy, softness, and rest as forms of strength. flowing shapes and radiant colors reflect individuality and connection. The design honors choosing ease over constant struggle, celebrating pleasure, creativity, and shared light. It reimagines black womanhood as abundant and expansive, where rest and joy are powerful, intentional acts
Swatch No. 16 - Pearl of the Ocean
“Being a black person means I get to be creative with the way I dress myself, the hobbies that I dive into. Anything really, just being able to explore options is what I would describe as being a black woman.”
Sarah, 23, Florida
Pearl of the Ocean explores duality, strength and softness existing together. The ocean represents depth and movement, while the pearl symbolizes beauty formed through time and pressure. The design reflects creativity, adaptability, and resilience, framing identity as fluid and expansive. It embraces complexity as a source of power and expression.
Swatch No. 46 - Forming Voice
“I am constantly thinking about even the ways in which we speak, the inflection of words, and how letter forms can fit together like many of us coming with our own traumas and our own wounds to movement work.”
Terresa, 39, Minnesota
Forming Voice explores language as collective expression. Fragmented letterforms evoke protest and grassroots design, reflecting communication shaped by lived experience. The design highlights language as layered, emotional, and communal. It positions typography as a tool for resistance and identity, where many voices come together to create meaning and change
Swatch No. 42 - Seen Into Bloom
“My first fashion show in Austin… I was extremely nervous and did not know how this was going to be perceived or what was going on. Once my collection came out, I saw a little Black girl, super excited… like she just saw the best thing in the world… I think we have to take ourselves out of it sometimes and understand that there’s other people out there who, in a sense, kind of want to look up to you.”
Raven, 30, Texas
Seen Into Bloom examines visibility as transformation. floral forms emerge from darkness, symbolizing growth through vulnerability. The design reflects how self-expression impacts others, creating connection and inspiration. It frames identity as both personal and communal, where being seen can empower others to imagine new possibilities.
Swatch No. 04 - Little Joys
“Taking fun pictures. In the Barbie camper. Or at the beach.”
Hannah, 3, Florida
Little Joys explores identity through childhood play and happiness. scattered dots resemble snapshots of memories—simple, joyful moments like beach days or playtime. The design emphasizes softness, care, and imagination, suggesting identity begins through feeling and connection. It highlights joy as foundational, shaping how one experiences the world.
Swatch No. 05 - Becoming Big
“My graduation… It’s nice.”
Honora, 5, Florida
Becoming Big captures early identity through milestones and growth. Circular forms represent small achievements and moments of pride, like graduation. The design reflects excitement, possibility, and forward movement. It frames black girlhood as a space of encouragement and imagination, where even small moments help shape confidence and future identity.
Swatch No. 02 - Patched Identity
“I've developed myself off of experiences I've had, off of people I've met. And every friend I have, every person I come into contact with, I always take a little bit of them with me. And what I learn from being around them… I carry that knowledge with me and bring it forward to every other experience I ever have.”
Jordanne, 25, Florida
Patched identity presents identity as layered and shaped by relationships and experiences. Patchwork fragments represent people and moments that leave a lasting impact. Visible seams and textures highlight growth through change, not perfection. Denim acts as a memory holder, framing identity as evolving, relational, and built through connection, resilience, and lived experience.
Swatch No. 30 - New Growth
“So as a Black woman, all those things make me who I am, and make me proud to be that. Because it’s not our limitations. It’s not our strengths, but it’s just merely who we are as people and how we show up in this world.”
Tamara, 28, Florida
New Growth celebrates self-renewal through hair as a metaphor. Layered, comb-like patterns reflect rituals of care—washing, braiding, and styling—as acts of cultural inheritance and self-love. muted greens and browns express warmth and comfort, while Haitian references root the design in lineage. It frames beauty as process, not outcome, and growth as a rhythm of care, patience, and everyday artistry.
Swatch No. 44 - Unfolding Self
“If I think you look beautiful with it, why do I think I don't look beautiful with it? Why can't I do it? You know what I mean? So I started to do the afro, do cornrows, do all those things. And those features that I was hiding, I couldn't hide behind that anymore. cause you know, it's there on front display, but it helped, it helped teach me to love myself.”
Kyrah, 26, New York
Unfolding Self reflects identity as a journey toward self-acceptance. Organic, hair-like forms grow outward, symbolizing visibility and pride. The design captures the shift from hiding to embracing one’s natural self. It presents identity as evolving through courage and intention, with confidence built over time by choosing authenticity.
Digital Fabric Swatch Archive
Swatch No. 19 - Survivor Legacy
“One unforgettable moment in her life occurred during a journey from La Gonâve to St. Marc, when a storm arose and the boat she was traveling in capsized. She survived by clinging to a plank of wood, while her family, believing she had perished, began a funeral ceremony. Miraculously, she arrived during the service, alive and well.”
Ercile, 97, Georgia
Survivor Legacy honors endurance, memory, and generational strength. A white denim base becomes a field of remembrance, with stitched fish symbolizing sustenance, faith, and movement through hardship. Quilting and red beadwork evoke both ocean and heartbeat, transforming loss into testimony. Each detail carries memory and love, reflecting resilience passed through generations. The piece frames Black womanhood as a vessel of wisdom, survival, and care that endures across time.
Swatch No. 16 - Island Princess
“Being a black person means I get to be creative with the way I dress myself, the hobbies that I dive into. Anything really, just being able to explore options is what I would describe as being a black woman.”
Sarah, 23, Florida
A celebration of Caribbean femininity, ancestry, and creative self-expression. The repetition of the figure suggests lineage and continuity, while the headdress becomes a metaphor for abundance, identity, and generational pride.
Swatch No. 10 - Survivorship
“I think being a Black woman is survivorship. We have gone through so much. We will continue to go through a lot, and that’s okay.”
Bernice, 40, Seattle
Survivorship maps endurance through rising, mountain-like forms that reflect cycles of pain and perseverance. Orange dots glow like embers, symbolizing memories that endure through loss. The denim ground represents everyday strength, while dark ridges evoke trauma and love intertwined. The design reframes suffering as part of a sacred lineage, honoring resilience, remembrance, and the ongoing strength of Black womanhood.
Swatch No. 08 - Marks of Becoming
“When I hear the words Black woman, I already know that I have to stand out. I have to try twice as hard in order for me to be heard.”
Joyce, 23, Florida
Marks of Becoming is introspective; the contrast of mud and white layered on denim evokes the ongoing negotiation between struggle and self-definition. It carries the weight of expectation but also the liberation of redefining what “standing out” means. The abstract gestures suggest self-expression breaking through social constraints, like paint strokes that rewrite identity.
Swatch No. 26/27 - A Multitude of Us
“We're still women. We still deserve to have the nicer things in life, or the softer life, if that's what we want, and so for me, this community is making that space where all women feel welcome…”
Maya, 26, Texas
“We understand our experience, and we're the best supporters that we have in this world, and I would like for that to outwardly show to everyone else that women are a multitude, like we're not just what you think we are.”
Kela, 26, Texas
A Multitude of Us explores identity as expansive and impossible to reduce to a single narrative. Repeated yet varied faces form a collective portrait, emphasizing individuality within shared experience. The design reflects the tension between being seen and truly understood, challenging stereotypes through difference and connection. Denim textures ground it in history and resilience, while softness introduces care and ease. Rooted in community, it frames Black womanhood as complex, diverse, and beyond categorization.
Swatch No. 29 - The Process of Becoming
“It might be longer, it might be more frustrating, it might be slower… but the end is no speed. The desire is for people to find themselves somehow in the process of doing these things.”
Ifeoma, 25, Nigeria
The Process of Becoming merges writing and textile as traces of becoming. A purple grid suggests structure and persistence, while handwritten script emerges beneath, symbolizing identity revealed through process. It reflects the slow evolution of self and artistry, honoring how Black women shape identity through lived experience, patience, and reflection.
Swatch No. 12 - Still Be Black
“Being a Black woman is a blessing. I wouldn’t change my Blackness for anything. If I had another chance at life, I would still be Black, and I would still be a Black woman.”
Edreshia, 24, Tennessee
Still Be Black celebrates voice, individuality, and presence. Mouth imagery and gold teeth symbolize pride and cultural expression, while denim grounds the work in everyday resilience. Fragmented circular forms represent stories, lineage, and conversation, coming together as a collective expression of Black womanhood.