Daily Gems & other musings — emerging designer

Vintage.  Handmade.  Beautiful textiles.  Sustainability.  These are a few of our favorite things, and they just so happen to encapsulate just a few of the many things Natasha Fernandes Anjo incorporates into her wildly sought-after designs. Founder of the UK-based label ROOP, Natasha herself handmakes all of the bags and accessories sold in her boutique.  She studied fashion design in college, but it wasn't until years later that she "discovered her purpose as a designer."  "She individually sources the materials and in effort to utilize what’s at her disposal, Natasha uses vintage and remnant fabrics." Our favorite pieces from Natasha's collection? ...

We recently discovered an article on the Elle Magazine website that featured some of our current favorite (and recently featured in our Designer Spotlight series!) designers, as well as some new (to us) creators.  We love discovering new names, and this installment features the talented Kika Vargas - read on to learn more about her!  The Colombian born designer was born in Bogotá and currently calls it, Madrid and New York home.  She studied fine arts at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and fashion design at the the Istituto Marangoni in Milano, Graduating in 2008.  She's an award-winning designer, was the first...

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...

  If you've been following along on our Designer Spotlight series, you'll know there are few things we appreciate more than a great textile.  Sindiso Khumalo is known as "a genius on the subject, with a Central Saint Martins master’s in the niche and single-handedly designing all of her fabrics through multimedia methods such as watercolor and collage." But let's begin at the beginning.  The brand's founder and namesake, Sindiso "studied architecture at the University of Cape Town prior to moving to London, where she went onto study a Masters in Design for Textile Futures. Sindiso Khumalo founded her eponymous label...

  Known for "her innovative use of texture and draping, beautiful tailoring and meticulous detailing," we're excited to share our latest designer, Uma Wang, in the Designer Spotlight with you! Uma launched her label under her own name in 2009 and has done it all from runway collections to opening her own boutique since.  She trained at the Chinese Textile University in Shanghai and Central Saint Martins in London, and "her signature technique fuses knits with fabric, balancing sophistication with a timeless design." Anyone that knows us knows we can't get enough of a beautifully draped silhouette (seriously, who can't?!), and we can't decide on...