We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nico Karpf a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nico, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Although my collective, Eyelet Creative, might be taking this spot soon, what originally inspired its creation is a Registered Student Organization (RSO) called MESH. Founded in 2021, this young club full of aspiring designers and creative minds sought to carve an inclusive space of like-minded fashion enthusiasts at the University of Washington. I found MESH during my sophomore year of college when I was about nine months into sewing and designing. I fell in love with the process of designing something and seeing it come to life and MESH eventually gave me the opportunity to display my work on a runway. MESH holds an annual fashion show during the Spring quarter that encapsulates the work of 25+ student designers, student models, and student photographers. After designing for their 2022 show, “Welcome to Hell,” I decided to join the board team, which was made up of ten incredibly talented individuals who all deeply cared about MESH. We all gave everything to this community. My initial role was to be in charge of outreach and community-building events, but after finding my love for this community, I stepped up and earned the title of Workshops and Collaborations Director by building out the educational workshops that we held and creating new collaborative connections that broadened our network. I then designed again for the 2023 show, “Neomophosis,” which sold 355+ tickets, had 35+ designer applications, and 100+ modeling applications. I am incredibly proud of my work there and wish I could’ve given more to that community.

Nico, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Yeah! So my name is Nico Karpf. I am currently a senior at the University of Washington intending to graduate early with a major in Psychology, and I am building a non-profit organization aimed at amplifying QTBIPOC+ and LGBTQIA+ voices through the power of fashion design, creativity, and community. Our first fashion show is coming up on November 23rd, where we are hosting four designers (myself included), local artists/vendors, and a local musician @internettears ! This will be the first of our many shows that we will be hosting in the Seattle area, but when we aren’t doing that, we will be hosting accessible workshops, networking opportunities, and smaller community-building events. Our primary goal is to build out a diverse DIY collective of fashion designers and creatives for aspiring professionals and hobbyists alike.

An on-campus RSO got me into doing this work, as I’ve mentioned previously. MESH played a pivotal role in my career exploration, as it highlighted the importance of local community and solidarity. I spoke more about it in my previous answer. If you wish to see the work I’ve done with them, go to @mesh.uw on Instagram. My work as an educator, organizer, and designer is all showcased there.

Down the line, I dream of becoming a personal stylist whose focus is on the psychological aspect of wearing clothes. Particularly in the LGBTQIA+ community, self-expression can be a journey, and I wish to help them through that with therapeutic listening tactics and styling advice. Although this goal is far down the line at the moment, I believe this service could really benefit people, and would also bring me a great amount of personal fulfillment.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Be a part of, cultivate, and/or foster a community space that is focused on providing resources to those with similar interests.

Take church, for example. Many people who belong to a given faith, or, in other words, share common interests, gather together every week and uplift each other through shared communion and experience. Similar behavior would be displayed if this concept were applied to local art events, such as the Chelsea Art Gallery sprawl every Thursday in New York. To make this happen, grant and funding opportunities would need to exist so that money and resources are not that big of a problem, and event holders can focus on fostering these spaces and building these communities.

Also, educate young individuals who want to learn *insert creative act here*.

Exposing young individuals to support systems that allow them to learn in a non-judgemental place accelerates progress and builds community.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Providing resources and helping people feel creatively connected is extremely important to me. I love interacting with people who are new to designing or even creative projects on their own, and seeing them progress and grow makes me feel whole. It also reminds me of when I was at the point of the process where everything about design was new and fascinating, which, if you’ve been there, is such a fun time to learn, experiment, and enjoy something that acts as an extension of your creative self.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: (primary) karpff, (design) kxrpf, (company) eyelet.creative

Image Credits

@mesh.uw @abbieandthemoon @rowan.sharp