Dallin Chase: In-ˌflü-ən(t)s 3 a : the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command

On a recent afternoon at my mom’s place I noticed a picture that I had seen easily a 100,000 times in my life. It is one that you glance at, know what the gist of the image is but never pay too much attention to. Well this recent glance brought about a catharsis that had been bugging me for weeks. Our new sales director brought to my attention that I use stripes too often. It has happened that in nearly every collection I have designed the stripe has found its way into the story. It is never on the mood board or even something I seek out when researching new fabrics. But by the end of sampling the collection there it is, be it a knit top or crinkled Lurex seersucker. So as I sat there starring at this photo of my mother and two of her sisters I had a flash of all the images I remembered where a striped shirt played a silent role in the memory.

This blog has become a sort of outlet for me as I create the collection. Inspiration comes and changes and evolves over the six months it takes to finally present the clothes. In the end it usually gets distilled into a couple of cliché sentences and voila the season is here. What I realized as I looked at this picture was that without knowing it I have collected images, ideas and references that I never intended to use as inspiration. It’s not a visit to a museum or new song playing on the radio that influences what I make. Inspiration comes with everything and anything that I have experienced. Without knowing exactly what will inspire the next Dallin Chase collection I am simply left to edit and navigate through tangible and subliminal references and ultimately create something that is as much a piece of me as it is piece of striped jersey.