Luxury label Maiyet, which partners with
artisans from far-flung corners of the world, made its fashion week debut
with
a sensuous collection in desert hues designed for the sophisticated New York
woman.
Founded in 2010 by South African lawyer and post-apartheid
reconciliation
figure Paul van Zyl, and Kristy Caylor, a Californian passionate about
humanitarian causes, Maiyet pioneers a new approach to fashion and luxury.
The brand has forged partnerships with artisans from countries as diverse
as India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mongolia and Peru, and has been showing
its
collections on the runways of Paris since 2011.
To widen its scope and deepen its identity, the label in April
appointed
its first dedicated creative director, Declan Kearney, an Irishman who
previously served as design director at Alexander Wang and Jason Wu.
On Monday, in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, he unveiled a
spring/summer
2016 collection of restrained elegance, layered knits, silks and suede, with
soft falling fabrics and entirely feminine.
“I would acknowledge the fact that we’re a New York brand,” Kearney,
who
has lived in the city since the late 1990s, told AFP backstage at the show.
Maiyet recently opened its first store in New York’s fabled Soho
neighborhood.
“I’m very inspired by New York women,” said Kearney. “Living in New
York,
you see girls of all nationalities. It is such a diverse place to live, and
it’s really great to celebrate that.”
Maiyet does not necessarily have to be for the hippie chick or the
eco-warrior — the DNA of its timeless craftsmanship from multiple
traditions
easily reaches into the wardrobe of the style-conscious New Yorker.
There were ivory silk knits from Bolivia, silk tunic dresses, jacquard
knits from Mongolia and sheath dresses cut with asymmetrical slits.
“We reach out to the world for inspiration but we bring it back to
New York
when we curate it and make sense of it,” Kearney explained.
“We put it together in a way that speaks to a modern woman.”
Kearney said he sees the clothes as “very American.”
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“We have little touches of, maybe a few more Parisian elements in our
embroidered shapes, but it feels like a New York girl,” he said.
The palette was emblematic of the Mongolian desert or the Antelope Canyon
in Arizona — the oranges of a sunset, neutral hues, black, charcoal or
metallics — sophisticated but sparkling.
“We have amazing partners in Bolivia, Mongolia and India, and Kenya.
We
work with a lot of really great artisans,” Kearney said.
“I think I see New York with a foreigner’s eyes,” he said. “I live in
Queens, it’s a very diverse center of the world — it’s very representative
of
the world at large.” (Prune Perromat, AFP)
Image credit: AFP/Trevor Collens