Daily Gems & other musings — Couture

Youthful.  Playful.  Avant garde haute couture.  Not necessarily styles you would expect to normally find in one place, but when you look at Minju Kim's designs, you'll be able to see just how perfectly they can work together.  A true, raw talent to say the least! Minju is a South Korean fashion designer known for her use of bold prints and juxtaposition of a vibrant, youthful vibe mixed with unmatched couture detailing.  After studying fashion in Antwerp, she "has made her career through designing brave and daring collections with large motifs and a color palette representative of a packet of sweets.  She is quoted...

In 1999, Chitose Abe founded the Japanese brand Sacai, a luxury label known for its unique pattern combinations and design techniques, and is currently the label's Creative Director and owner.  When we first heard about her, we were so excited to learn more about this incredible #girlboss, mom and all around raw talent! Before founding Sacai, Chitose worked at Comme de Garcons as a pattern cutter and as a member of Junya Watanbe's design team.  Afterwards, she became a mom and now, as the head of Sacai, she bases her collections "...purely on my creative instincts.  Maybe I’m an idealist, but I am a...

Cozy knits, luxe sweaters, flowing palazzo pants and statement cutouts - it's almost impossible to pick out our favorite looks from the Peruvian designer Meche Correa's eponymous line, but these may just be our favorites.  We are also in love with her bold, large scale prints, statement hats and scarves.   We discovered Meche when curating our Designer Spotlight series on Diversity in Design and as soon as we stumbled upon her designs, we were instantly obsessed.  We love any collection that combines statement looks with everyday, wearable pieces, and her line achieves just that. The Creative Director of her brand, Meche...

"Elegance formed in joy." When we discovered Johanna Oritz's collection, we immediately loved the way she described her aesthetic as "elegance formed in joy," with her designs striking the most beautiful balance between the two.  We've been fans of her collection ever since we featured her look in our Diversity in Design Style Board series, and are in love her feminine and structural silhouettes. Johanna founded her namesake collection in 2003 in Cali, Colombia, and she "draws from the power of the feminine - the allure of complexity, the mark of individuality, and a celebration of the exquisite."  We love that Johanna's collections come from...

Widely known as China's most renowned couturier, Guo Pei "has been dressing distinguished ladies, royalty and political elite who turn to her for show-stopping, magnificent creations when they want to look beautiful and stand out from the crowd." When we created our Style Board:  Diversity in Design series, we knew from the beginning that we wanted feature Guo in our roundup of inspiring designers.  We're in awe of the intricate embroidery and painting details she incorporates into her designs and are beyond obsessed by the way she incorporates traditional Chinese craftsmanship with modern design.  From being featured everywhere from the red carpet {think Rihanna at the...