Each collection I create starts with one of these books. In it, I paste inspiration images from books and Flickr, and photos of garments I’ve found. This particular notebook is an old Steno pad, and I pasted this piece of a 1915 yearbook from Iowa State — it was called The Bomb.

Sports were a big inspiration for me this season. This is an Evelyn Hofer photograph of a rugby team. I like how weathered the clothes look. You could find those forgotten jerseys tucked away in a closet or attic.

Dorthea Lange photographs inspired me. In her pictures you can tell that the things the subjects are wearing have been used and worn. We’re such a throwaway society today. Clothes really tell a story. I wear things till they fall apart. The holes on this man’s shirt are just so interesting.

I’m inspired by basketball nets. This is a photo of a guy at a concert with a pinned shirt. I like the way he did that.

These are seed bags that I got in Pennsylvania. They made these out of old dresses and used them to collect and pick seeds. The faded colors are just gorgeous.

Here’s my color board. I was thinking about neutrals but wanted to add little bits of neon. So there’s a bright, well, we call it safety orange. There’s even a piece from a rubber swim cap that inspired me

This is my yarn board — it has all of the yarns I’m using for spring. They’re all organic from Switzerland. I’m using a raffia plastic (that’s sort of clear and sporty), a nylon tape that looks like tubing (I like its fleshy color), and a nylon-coated cotton. It’s sort of tongue-in-cheek.

Transparency is going to play a big role this season. There are some sheer fabrics and even some netting.