Behind the Scenes - Fall '08 Photoshoot

It's been a crazy month or two with preparing for the upcoming Fall shows, getting all my Fall samples done, putting Summer "into work" for production, and shipping Spring to stores - yikes! I don't think I can go a month without working on all four seasons at the same time, all at different stages that is. The fun part is getting all the samples in and finally getting to see the results of what's been in my head for 4 months! Once again, my friend Judy has come to the rescue and volunteered to model my samples so I can get some images of the looks that you'll see come this Fall.

My first group, Town & Country is for a June delivery and is actually Fall Transition. Inspired by what they call in Hawaii as "town," which is Honolulu city proper and "country," which is the rural parts of the Northshore. I've taken the bamboo one step further and developed a bamboo/cotton version which is scrumptious against the skin and a perfect transitional weight. The styling is both city and country - wear to work or to the beach literally. My favorite new silhouette is the cocoon cardigan which is a variation on the shrug, but a lot more fabric to wrap yourself into. It's the perfect 'throw-over-anything' kind of cardigan, buttonless and chic all at the same time. I've also always wanted to do a hoodie dress (as you all know, I'm a firm believer in the iconic hoodie). It's both sexy with it's plunging neckline, but sporty with it's drawstring and hood. Wear as a coverup at the beach this June or sport with some high boots when Fall actually arrives. The colors - Haiku, Seagrass, Banyan, and Lantern - are both vibrant and transitional colors perfect for all seasons.

The second group, Mission, is for true Fall and ships to stores in August. This eco-friendly group of bamboo tops, sweaters, and dresses will satisfy both form and function. My favorite look is the drawstring tunic with crochet scarf in Juniper - a new take on my signature beach tunic with its side ruching and low button placket. I especially like how the long, chunky bamboo scarf winterizes the tissue-weight bamboo tunic. For a heavier, keep-warm kind of look, I've made up the bamboo in a 7gg tuck stitch cowl neck and hoodie - a great alternative to cashmere in August. I've also brought back the bamboo/nylon dress with a great new scoop-neck shape with empire waistline and uber short for boot-wearing Fall days. The "Mission" colors are inspired by California's spanish architecture - Adobe, Mesa, Eucalyptus, Juniper, and Sequoia.

And lastly, my full-on winter group of merino spacedye and solid sweaters are sure-fire warmey sweaters you'll be sporting this September and October. Customers have requested more "pop" in my Fall palette, similar to the vivid colors I usually do in Spring. So this season, I've pumped up the color in the merino spacedye, a much needed color boost to the season of drab and boring browns, greys, and blacks that usually flood the market. Don't be afraid of color, I'm certainly not! The "Canyon" group is inspired by, well of course, the canyons of California - Laurel, Temescal, Topanga, Benedict, Coldwater, Rustic, and Malibu. And for those of you who want the same great shapes, but in solid, there's some rich, Fall colors too - Mulholland (teal), Beachwood (camel), Toluca (chocolate), Runyon (aubergine), and Mandeville (hot pink). The new belted cardicoat this season is made in a 7gg tuck stitch with a funnel neck, large hidden snap closure, and side seam pockets for a true sweater coat feel. After some success with crochet and pointelle patterns in my rayon spacedye, I've tried it out in merino too. It adds just the right amount of femininity to the wooly sweater so you can keep warm and be girly too. I love the new wide sleeved cardigan with its single crochet "power" button in lovely spacedye pointelle. And stores have been requesting a long pointelle spacedye scarf so here it is...a hell of a lot cheaper (and chicer!) than a $$$$issoni scarf!!