Tie One On and Breathe...

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Ria Ray, designs these cool, spiritual tie-on bracelets that are printed with her mantra poetry. Simple sayings that put a smile on your face and make you forget about your crazy day. My favorite is Surf~ Freedom is Pure. It's certainly how I feel when I'm cresting a wave - freedom and purity- and when I wear it I dream of being on the water again. Ria Ray is an artist, healer, designer, and all-around guru who has come a long way from her NY days selling me fabric when I worked at J. Crew. Check out her web site, www.riaray.com, and read more about her spiritual healing retreats, view her beautiful paintings, and shop for mantra ties. Her ties are also available locally at Fred Segal Santa Monica and Marie Mason Apothecary at the Brentwood Country Mart. So tie one on and breathe...

Old World Charm - Mathieu Beauvoir

Back in my Brooklyn heyday, one of my best shop girls at stacia new york was a petite French gal named Corinne Beauvoir. She charmed the pants off my customers with her delightful smile and beautiful accent. But unfortunately she had another calling and soon moved onto Calypso to do public relations and begin her jewelry designs. Now, in 2007 she has the most exquisite web site (her husband's first web design effort!) showcasing her old world charm pendants, rings, and delicate drop earrings. Her designs were inspired by her jeweler and watchmaker grandfather, Mathieu Beauvoir, hence the name of her new design venture - Mathieu Beauvoir. So I miss my favorite shop girl, Corinne, but I am so happy to introduce her fabulous jewelry line here at Fashion Flock. Click here to view the complete Mathieu Beauvoir collection.

Stacia is one hapa haole

Yes, I grew up in Hawaii and yes, I am a haole (for you mainlanders, that's "white chick"). I may not be a true local per say, but Hawaii will always be home to me. Even after 15 years in NYC I've still always stayed true to the islands by pulling inspiration from the vivid colors and natural beauty of Hawaii. Even in stark, cold NY Februarys I filled my little shop with reverse-aloha print dresses and bikinis for Spring (that's using the reverse side of very bright Hawaiian prints to tone down the prints for a less "touristy" look). Anything to avoid the usual black in NY. Now in LA it's a no-brainer to show off my island roots. I used the same reverse-aloha print concept on my light-weight Hibiscus sweatertees (for baby too!). And my spacedye collections have always been created with Hawaii on my mind with collections inspired by my favorite places - Haleiwa, Road to Hana - and spacedye colors of bougainvillea, maile, waimea, and lanai. One of my new favorite blogs about Hawaii and everything that's cool coming out of the islands is www.hapahale.com. Check it out and support local Hawaiian artists (or haoles from Hawaii like me!)

Is it a sweater or is it a tee?

After shuttering my NY boutique and moving to LA to launch stacia for wholesale in 2005, I wanted to hone in on one category - knits - which were always my best-selling item in my shop. But living in LA inspired me to design lighter weight knits that were more like t-shirts and less like your granny's sweaters. So quickly my knitwear line evolved into what I like to call, Sweatertees. By knitting up in a super-fine 14gg gauge silky rayon yarn, I created my signature spacedye looks. The Sweatertess are less disposable than the average t-shirt and have the fine-finishings of a fully-fashioned sweater, but the look and feel is a luxurious tee. So is it a sweater or is it a tee? You decide...click here to view stacia Sweatertees in assorted colors and silhouettes. Check out Dailycandy.com which featured stacia's Sweatertees.

Summer '07 as arrived at shopstacia.com!

I love designing Summer collections - it's all about ease and comfort and the BEACH!! I toiled around with crochet detailing for my Spring collection and decided to expand on that theme with some new silhouettes that are very beach-appropriate. Click here to view my favorite - the crochet beach tunic in Capri. And I tried to play around with some new patterns with my signature Spacedye by creating a chevron stripe pattern that encompasses 3 spacedye palettes and over 12 colors! The fabric is a little meatier and has a blankety weight. My fave is the Calypso drawstring shell pictured above - love it! So get ready for lazy beach days and lounging pool side in your new stacia sweatertees. To view the entire stacia Summer '07 collection click here.

Tie Dye to Die For

One of my NY web customers recently informed me that tie dye is HUGE this Summer in NYC. She just purchased one of ours online recently and we chatted over the phone about this love it or hate it dye technique. I had an inkling for tie dye in 2005 and began home dyeing some baby tees for my 6 mth old son. Soon evolved the tie dye collection for stacia Fall'05 in super soft, fine-gauge tees. It was a hit with some of my boutiques and others passed on it ("we don't DO tie-dye," some had said). So here we are in 2007 and now everybody wants it. Lucky for you, it's now on sale at www.shopstacia.com since it's from a few seasons ago. And as my NY customer says, tie-dye is everywhere on the streets of NYC this Summer...click here to view stacia's cool tie-dye digs and get one for yourself!