On Thursday, student designer Ava Eisendrath ’25.5 unveiled her first collection of garments to a packed house at Brown-RISD Hillel. Her fashion brand, IRONWIRE, presents a sophisticated take on upcycled clothing.
Models showcasing 32 unique looks crossed the square stage, their faces sharply illuminated by three rustic spotlights. Behind them, 10-foot canvas banners hung from the ceiling, printed with black and white images of Eisendrath’s design process.
The show displayed a process of its own — at the start of the show, models walked rigidly, abruptly turning as electronic instrumental music pulsed through the room. After a few minutes, the staccato beat gave way to a more fluid sound, and the models shifted to a relaxed gait. At the curtain call, the models lined up to display a vibrant continuum of colors — oranges and greens, then blues and whites.
The name IRONWIRE comes from the English translation of Eisendrath’s last name. “The founder of our family decided to name us ‘Eisendrath’ because they had 20 children. Iron wire, strong family, bound together,” Eisendrath said.
Strong ties to friends and family are essential to the ethos of IRONWIRE, Eisendrath explained. Clothing from friends and family provides much of the starting material for her creative process. According to Eisendrath, she has been designing on and off since she was 11 but became more serious about her craft in college. “I got to Brown, and I started really getting technical with my work, learning how to make patterns properly (and) … how to use the correct seams for the correct piece,” she said.
Each garment in the show was made from several materials, and most pieces sported IRONWIRE’s signature circle cutout. Otherwise, formless hoodies were embellished by eight-inch linen circles or intricate seams.
“I’m obsessed with cutting out shapes and using this hole motif,” Eisendrath said. “All of these looks are very simple, structured garments that I add a fun twist to.” From hand-me-down jackets and jeans to old towels and tablecloths, she blends sustainability with a high-end aesthetic.
RISD student Manuela Sepulveda is a photographer and producer who helped launch IRONWIRE and bring the show to life. “I started working with Ava in October,” Sepulveda said. “She originally reached out to me with the intention of creating this event … (and) we started doing photoshoots to get the ball rolling.”
Over the last three months, the two worked together to kickstart IRONWIRE’s social media presence, posting newly made pieces to Instagram and laying the groundwork for a runway show.
“The most important part of working creatively with another person is genuinely enjoying and admiring each other’s work,” Sepulveda said. “I think that’s what’s kept Ava and I working so well together. I genuinely love her design and would own every single one of her pieces.”
IRONWIRE’s runway models echoed this sentiment. Nadia Heller ’24, former post- writer, was dressed in an ivory corset top and one-of-one skirt, just two of the nearly 60 garments that Eisendrath hand-stitched over the last year.
“Something that is so special about Ava’s clothes is the detail,” Heller said. “It’s very unique clothing already, but the second you look closer, there are a lot of special little designs.”
The robust collection impressed attendees Angie Osei-Ampadu ’25 and Ellie Leibner ’24. “I think it’s really cool that I recognized a lot of the style in the collection as Ava’s personal style, yet (there were) also some pieces that I can’t imagine her wearing,” Leibner said.
“She has so much to show for all of her work and passion,” Osei-Ampadu added.
Eisendrath hopes to build on the success of her show with a sale of select pieces in an open-to-all display where interested customers are able to purchase items from the collection.
“I’m still figuring out how to scale,” Eisendrath said when asked about future plans for IRONWIRE. “I’m ready for the next thing, (and) I’m really excited to wake up and make something new.”
Benicio Beatty is a staff writer and a copy editor. He is studying Public Health on the pre-med track. In his free time, Benicio enjoys playing with his dog Tivoli and constructing time capsules.
