Cara Marie Piazza

July 30, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

You can discover truly inspiring people on Instagram and Cara Marie Piazza is the best example of that. She lives and produces in New York as a textile designer and natural dyer. Cara creates one-of-a-kind textiles only using natural dye stuffs such as botanicals, plant matter, minerals, non-toxic metals and food wastes. She treats her fabrics through alchemical dye sessions, ancient shibori techniques and bundle dyeing, transforming each textile into its very own story. The designer creates custom Kimonos for private clients (which look stunning, just check our her Insta-feed!). But also you could have seen her touch at New York’s hottest fashion labels like Eckhaus Latta or Alice Waese. Watch out for this girl.

@caramariepiazza / caramarienyc.com

Photography by Arden Wray

Dance. Rachel Comey Resort’16

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dance! Use your body language! Resort 2016 by the New York-based favourite, Rachel Comey, is a blast. The looks were documented through a dance performance from the Robbins Child company – women who love dancing simply showed the clothes they wore through movement. While listening to various music on their headphones, the dancers looked more than refreshing in colours of curcuma, lemon and red chilli… Comey said that she’d been looking at shots from Kingston, Jamaica circa the 1970s as a way of exploring a loose “street style” theme, and though her homage was indirect, the collection’s prints and colors made the reference clear. With a cool 70’s twist, these dresses are definitely the ones you want to try out at Saturday night dance-club.

Female. The Row Resort’16

June 12, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Row makes minimalism and “effortless” luxury its routine, and we all know it by observing the last years of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen at their brand. Resort 2016 tells a story about artists like Constantin Brâncuși or Jean Cocteau. They thought of a painter in his studio, in his oversize painter’s blouse that’s cinched at the waist. This image is balanced with the strong feminine spirit. And this wardrobe is her outside weapon filled with well tailored pieces for every scenario or journey she might encounter. She might be as laid-back as can be in a robe – or in enough layers to cast her sophistication and her strength.

Cuban Heat. Proenza Schouler Resort’16

June 10, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Boys from Proenza Schouler heated up their dress-code after their trip to Cuba in March. There, they became inspired with vibrant movement of the streets and feminine silhouette of traditional dresses. The dresses, which were the main components of the Resort 2016 collection, were made in a great, over-sized fit. They definitely can be worn for a hot flamenco. A sleeveless red tweed dress with a handkerchief hem and a gentle ruffle down the front (another nod to Cuba) was one of the best pieces, as elegant as it was effortless. The exposed shoulders gave a subtle sex-appeal, too. That was a good, good collection.

Comfort Zones. Creatures of Comfort Resort’16

June 9, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Creatures of Comfort as a brand, concentrates on edgy clothes which, as the name suggests, are comfortable. Jade Lai, the designer of the brand, shared cropped, wide-leg trousers; boxy outerwear and fantastic, artsy layers. Among other ideas, we had a clash of two denims: a snowy fabrication from the storied American Cone Mills and a Japanese deep indigo. Both were used in a way that was pure Creatures of Comfort: Lai made the American fabric into a tank with a “fraying” peplum detail, while the Japanese denim became an oversize jacket and pants.