New York fashion designer and University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumna, Kendra Benson, was visiting The Breakers, a Newport, Rhode Island mansion built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II. Upon seeing the uninterrupted view of the ocean crashing against the cliffs behind the marble mansion, she wanted to encapsulate that view for her newest collection, titled Nashua.
“For anybody to own that view is this amazing thing, and then I thought about Gloria Vanderbilt’s mother and what would make her leave all that and go live in the West Village in New York City,” Benson said. “For Nashua, I wanted to use that view and the romantic idea of leaving it.”
Pieces from Nashua and three other collections Benson has created — Japonica, Padam Padam and americanodyssey — can be found at The Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery on East Campus until Dec. 16.
Benson originally lived in Missouri, but moved to Nebraska for college. She graduated from UNL in 2005 with a degree from the Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design program. From there, she interned with Tracy Reese in New York and Kate Clarkson in London. She also worked as an associate designer for Donna Ricco and later managed Edna Moran Archival Textiles in New York.
From Benson’s multitude of fashion experiences, she learned various tricks of the trade, and has used her acquired knowledge to create her very own Brooklyn, New York brand titled “THIS WOMAN’S WORK,” named after the Kate Bush song.
“When I was starting my brand, there were a lot of people telling me how pieces can be more marketable, but those pieces never sold,” Benson said. “The pieces that I put all my love into and that I wasn’t trying to make money off of, those are the pieces everybody wanted. That is the main lesson I have learned so far in my business; if somebody’s advice does not resonate with me, I’m not going to feel the need to take it anymore.”
While Benson’s collections are often initially inspired by American history, she never just copies the historical styles of clothing. Rather, she said she wants to capture the mood of the time period in her clothing.
“I use a lot of calico prints in my collections that reference colonialism when things were very regal,” Benson said. “I also like to mimic tailoring of the time and use really loose and drapey silhouettes.”
To recreate these ideas, Benson said she also collects vintage fabrics and embellishments and reuses fabrics and accessories.
“A lot of fabrics, in the beginning, came from my childhood stash, and I bought vintage dead stock fabrics when I worked for the textile archive,” Benson said. “Also, I bought European buttons from this lady with a huge collection in Missouri, and my husband was like, ‘Wow you’re getting really serious about your work, you just bought like 500 buttons.’”
In the summer of 2014, UNL alumna Rachel Duryea interned with Benson in New York. Duryea said she remembers helping Benson create the fabrics for her Padam Padam collection.
“Kendra had a print studio, and she would handprint each piece of fabric. It wasn’t like she was ordering fabric with pre-printed designs,” Duryea said. “Each fabric was like a piece of artwork.”
Through the internship, Duryea learned about the importance of extensively planning a project before even putting a thread through a needle.
“[Kendra’s] very meticulous. She puts so much emphasis on the process and mood board planning,” Duryea said. “Before I interned with her I would just throw patterns down on fabric and start cutting. I learned from her that everything needs to be precise, so there aren’t any mistakes further down the line.”
Benson said she wants people who see her clothing at The Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery to feel the importance of fashion and appreciate the processes that she went through to put together each collection.
“Clothing can make people feel really good about themselves. It’s armor,” Benson said. “In my collections, I want people to see how exquisite the garments are, as well as feel nostalgia. I want them to be reminded of something they saw once in the past, but they can’t remember where.”
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