Written by Isa Pierry

Leader of both the Art Club and Sustainable Fashion Club, senior Sophia Lynch is no stranger to the arts. Over the past four years at Rye Country Day School, Lynch has continued to grow and develop this interest, specifically in fashion design, through the classes and extracurriculars she undertakes. 

Lynch’s passion developed naturally. She recounts how she started knitting and crocheting at five years old. A couple years later, she became fascinated by Rainbow Loom and crafts before starting to sew in 6th grade. Lynch reflected that “through fashion, I combined everything I loved to do, drawing, painting, crocheting, and knitting, into one medium. I began transforming my personal expression into clothes.”

Since then, Lynch has made a myriad of pieces that incorporate transformative aspects. Her favorite collection, Chrysalis, embodies these aspects as her clothes draw inspiration from the metamorphosis of a butterfly. In this collection, Lynch made a poncho out of Mohair fabric and grassy cotton bland to evoke ties to nature. That very poncho can be transformed into a skirt and overalls. Lynch has also made pants out of hand-woven rope textiles that transform into a bag, dress, and scarf, showcasing the versatility and imagination in Lynch’s designs. 

In terms of time commitment, Lynch can make a piece for herself in about a day. However, when it comes to portfolio pieces that are usually more experimental and technical, “it takes a really long time because I create every textile by hand,” Lynch emphasized.

Lynch’s favorite fashion brands include Issey Miyake, Alexander McQueen, and Danielle Frankel as they all explore pattern-making and include intricate fabrics in their designs. In Issey Miake’s most recent Fashion Week collection, Lynch enjoyed how “the clothes were inspired by the flow of wind,” allowing the brand to incorporate a lot of movement and art onto the runway. 

Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli is one of Lynch’s biggest role models, but what about her role models at Rye Country Day? Both Ms. Linderoth and Ms. Dolan have been teachers Lynch has looked up to and deemed “utterly amazing.” Ms. Linderoth, one of RCDS’ Environmental Science teachers, first introduced Lynch to sustainable fashion and helped her tackle sustainability through sewing. Lynch’s latest Halloween costume swap was assisted by Ms. Linderoth who is involved in many other sustainable practices at school. One of Lynch’s favorite classes has been her Independent Study on sustainable fashion with Ms. Dolan, who is also her AP 3D Art teacher and Art Club advisor. Through this partnership, Lynch explored “3D art realms that are hard to get into having had a background in painting and drawing.”

Although Lynch has been incorporating sustainable practices into her work, she recognizes that establishing sustainability in the fashion industry is an uphill battle. Many fashion schools she is applying to identify sustainability as their focus. However, in practicality, Lynch stated, “Integrating sustainability is hard as many handcrafted pattern pieces create a lot of leftover scraps that get thrown away.” Fast fashion practices have further contributed to this waste. The fashion industry is the world’s third greatest polluting industry, but Lynch is not deterred; she hopes to help eradicate this dilemma by applying the sustainable practices she has learned at RCDS.  

Her current projects involve organizing her pieces into a portfolio and making a giant 3D installation piece that experiments with cyanotype printing to dye shapes reminiscent of the human form onto fabric. 

Lynch’s advice to other RCDS students is simple: find out what you like to do early in high school and continue to pursue that field. She reflected, “Now that I’m applying to college, I’m so glad I’m applying for something that I love and am excited to do for the rest of my life.”