Kickin' It to the Curb and Culture Clash

A lot of research and effort goes into a collection before you ever commit pencil to paper.

• Researching trends, colors, and culture.
• Studying and analyzing runway creations from New York, London, Paris, and Milan.
• Looking at what is going on in popular culture.

you sometimes have to kick it all to the curb and go with your gut.

And that is exactly what I did. Our Spring 2010 collection(our 20^th btw since we are celebrating our 20^th anniversary this year) didn't evolve from the traditional research means, but from researching museum archives.  When I came across this vivid jhuladi all my previous research scattered to the curb and instead spun off of this one boy's jacket from India. . .

So this is how my thought process evolved:

• Indian jhuladi, and shisha mirror work
• Japanese kimonos with sherry blossom motifs
• Chinese opera costumes with dragon embroidery
• Romanian vests with eastern European embroidery
• Balkan skirts in girlie silhouettes and novelty embellishment
• And of course my beloved cowboys and Indians of the American West

- Cheryl

PS: special thanks to my cast of characters who inspired me all along the way.