Daily Gems & other musings — designer spotlight

In creating our Diversity in Design Style Board series, we set out to find and feature established and emerging designers that we both loved for their work on the runway as well as for how and why it's all created.  In discovering the line Maki Oh, founded by Amaka Osakwe, we were inspired not only by beautiful design, but also by the brand's vision to extend "beyond physical beauty to a textured, layered, and three-dimensional aesthetic, embodying the philosophies of sustainability, preservation, strength and complex simplicity."  The brand is centred in a strong sense of identity and culture, creating narrative pieces...

When we discovered Anaïs Jourden Mak's collection when creating our Diversity in Design StyleBoard series, we became instantly obsessed with the Hong Kong-born designers modern, unique take on femininity, something that felt so refreshing and new. Anaïs gained popularity quickly, with her designs seen on celebrities like Ariana Grande and Bella Hadid.  When we discovered her Ready to Wear collection, we were immediately drawn to elements like sweet polka dot details paired with edgy combat boots, classic bow accent on this super-modern fuchsia dress and a classic, feminine sweater set atop a sparkly black skirt. Perhaps our favorite discovery was when we discovered that,...

Image via eco-age.com Not only does Studio 189 create beautiful, colorfully printed pieces that we want to wear everywhere, but they are a beyond inspiring brand.  We discovered the brand when curating our Diversity in Design Styleboard Series, and immediately went to work to learn more.  Co-founded by Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, Studio 189 "is an artisan produced fashion lifestyle brand and social enterprise that focuses on empowerment, creating jobs and supporting education and skills training.  The brand currently operates a store in Accra (Ghana), an ecommerce site, a manufacturing facility in Accra, and supports various community led projects in Africa and...

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...

To say that Andrea Iyamah is one of our favorite designers would be an understatement - we simply can't get enough of her stunning swimwear, we're beyond obsessed with the waterfall-like flow of her gowns and jumpsuits, and her caftans are something straight out of our beach vacation dreams. We first featured Andrea's designs in our Diversity in Design Style Board, and we've been combing her Lookbooks for our dream pieces ever since.  Her Spring/Summer 2020 campaign is full of bold jewel tones, structural belted swimwear and flowing jumpsuits that make our hearts skip a beat.  After reading about Andrea, we...