Money Engineer
Role Model Mindset: Money serves people I love
Fashion fabrics, ribbon, embroidery thread
“I learned the value of hard work from my dad. He was a plumber and was so good at what he did. He was an innovator — always testing new products and solutions.
My parents never talked about money in front of us kids. Ever. We lived like ordinary people but in the things we did, we had the ‘best of’. In our family, we saved money so that we could afford the very best.”
Design
This simple, straightforward design conveys a sense of neatness, transparency, and order. The Money Engineer is very keen to always do the “right” thing, and she embodies this in the way she runs her business. She knows there is a correct way to operate when it comes to money; which she does by engineering money to serve the needs of people in her care.
The binary understanding of right and wrong is very conservative but, in reality, plays out in unconventional ways in the woman’s life.
Using the satin ribbon trim allowed me to capture these aspects of the story without interfering with the garment shape.
Fabric
The fashion fabric leapt out the display stand at me. It has the perfect combination of qualities to carry the Money Engineer’s story. The soft, transparent, open weave of silk and cotton has a firm hold, keeping its shape even when it is crushed or folded. Of course, the pattern struck me as the perfect analogy for graph paper, and I could instantly see a positive green graph line stitched on it.
The construction was more complex. It involved cutting pieces that matched, pockets that were centred correctly and the seams bound neatly so that they did not distract the eye from the external surface details that carried the story.
