You’d Better Not Pout…
Ariel and Christina
of
1. What are your plans for the holiday?
A: Headed home to Boston for a little while! Then I will be back in New York for my very first new years in the City!
C: Palm Beach for a very merry xmas and new years! Can’t wait to be out of the snow & into the sand!
2. Favorite Rae Francis pieces for the holidays?
A: Austin Dress
C: Wyatt Dress
3. Since we last spoke what has been inspiring you?
We are totally crazed!! After literally just shooting our Summer collection it’s now on to the next. Right now we are working on finishing up the Fall 2013 collection which is inspired by Stevie Nicks and her affinity for dark and dreamy fabrics. Our playlists are chock full of The Stones, Fleetwood Mac, and Simon & Garfunkel right now as we put the final touches on everything we have been developing. We were also incredibly inspired by Morocco for our Fall collection and that will be seen in the colors and prints that we have chosen for some boho maxi dresses.
4. What’s your new years resolution?
A: To cook at home more! I love to cook but need to make the time for it. I would love to host some more dinner parties as well.
C: My NYE resolution is to get to more concerts and make it to Burning Man. It’s been my absolute dream and this year it is my mission!
5. What’s your top wish list item
A: A reclaimed wood coffee table for my apartment!
C: Crock pot! WOO! All I want this winter is to make a bomb beef stew.
A Rae Francis Christmas
Cheetah Jumper
East Village Light
Soho Solitude
Kai Brown
Musician
Kai, my friend from Venice, was in New York this weekend. We spent most of the day roaming Brooklyn and Soho, looking for places to shoot Kai playing some music with “cool” New York backdrops. I may have led him astray a few times, but by the end of the day I think we had some good videos. When I first started this blog I interviewed Kai(you can read the interview here), in all the things that have changed since that interview his message has remained the same “you must follow what you feel in your heart”.
I’ve been getting a lot of emails and comments on Instagram about the fact that I no longer live on Abbot Kinney and that I should change the name of my blog, but as evident by Kai’s arrival, Abbot Kinney is never far from me. The name never meant that I was only going to shoot Abbot Kinney, instead it was my way of honoring a street where I met so many friends and found inspiration. It was on Abbot Kinney that I discovered my interest in fashion and in shooting for this blog I met people like Kai that lived each day with a full and engaged heart. Abbot Kinney is still in my heart as are the people there that inspired me and taught me so much. It is easy to get caught up in the mechanics of what we do, get dressed, go to work, go home, go out, repeat, but if we don’t stop to listen to our hearts we are going to miss our purpose. I have not been doing enough listening lately and have been caught up in the mechanics of shooting, running the blog, and developing a new project. My time spent with Kai reminded me that I need to be leading from the heart, that unless I act with a full heart, my actions are lacking in conviction . As an early New Years resolution I am going to listen more to my heart and try live a more engaged life.
On Abbot Kinney will remain the same whether I am shooting here in New York or at Fashion Week in London. I miss Venice and my fantastic friends there, but this blog is a daily reminder that I am never far from them. Thanks Kai for being a good friend and making such great music.
-Michael C. Dumler.
I never left Abbot Kinney
Capped
Williamsburg Wilds
Ryley
of
1. Where are you from?
I’m from a small beach town called Roberts Creek in Canada.
2. Why stockings?
I was searching for beautiful printed socks and couldn’t find any. So I made them.
3. What inspires the designs?
Pretty much anything. A walk in the garden. A postcard. Lunch.
4. How does your personal style effect Strathcona?
Hmmm. I guess they are fun, funny and diverse. I try to only make things and/or patterns that I would use or wear.
5. Where did the name Strathcona originate from?
Strathcona is a really lovely neighbourhood in Vancouver, where many of my friends and I lived when we were at art school. There is a community garden in the area — the very first print I ever made I called Strathcona Park after these gardens… then when I was thinking of a name for the line, it stuck.
6. If you could pass something along to me what would it be?
Read Bertrand Russel. He is brilliant.
Strathcona Stockings – Profile
Long Stare
Lauren Hastings
Layered Soho
Anne-Marie Van
Broadway Wilds
Always a Buchanan
Parisian Smiles
Rebecca Shugart
How to Wear Denim
Seeing Double
Leather and Fur
Cato van Ee
Bowery Benched
SOHO ready
wearing
Miu Miu
Danielle Bernstein
Sophie Sumner
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