Nicole Ulla

West Dune is a passion project that stems from my childhood as I spent the majority of my free time in either the woods or the water. I have always felt a close connection with the seaside and have been consistently curious about the life that fills our oceans. When I was younger, everything always seemed so perfect but as I grew older, I began to notice little pieces of trash gathering along the shoreline. With my age came larger mounds of waste, and at this point it simply became a problem I could no longer ignore. The increasing issue of human waste and contamination in our environment has grown with the passage of time. This issue has been one that has marked my childhood and has continuously worsened. This thesis is meant to be my stand against the oncoming tide of waste hitting our shores. West Dune is a beach lifestyle brand that pledges to donate 10% of yearly profits to the conservation efforts of our oceans and marine estuaries. The company’s apparel line utilizes old or forgotten clothing in order to give them a new life and act as a statement against fast fashion. In order to compliment the beach lifestyle and aesthetic that West Dune promotes, I decided to create surf and skateboard lines to act as a form of transportation for my artwork.