Written by Ifat Pridan
This won’t be another talk about the environmental benefits of slow fashion, but I will tell you why you should buy mushrooms at the farmers market…
Working with small and independent designers is less flexible and takes stress levels to new heights, but it’s worth it, because it makes us feel like we’re wearing meaningful clothes and that makes us, yes, important!! The energy of the designer is reflected in the clothes, no doubt. Every stitch is deliberate, the inspiration for each piece, the research of the fabrics and the fit.
It’s like the mushroom man at the farmers market. He likes to talk about the mushrooms, what you can do with them, which is better to cook and which is better to eat raw. You can see the respect he has for mushrooms in how he puts them in a paper bag. He raises them from infancy, sometimes I feel like saying, “Okay, just hand them over, I’ll take good care of them.”
How exactly does it work?
Well, let’s say it’s winter. When they were on the beach, the designer was working on drawing, canceling, talking to fabric manufacturers, choosing zippers, straps. Yes, right in the project park. Finally, the collection is born: one perfect sample of each style is sent to be photographed. The collection may have a few different groups in terms of color, fabric or style (depending on the size of the collection) but should be a consistent collection with the designers thumbprint.
Now we are at the end of summer. It’s fashion week. Boutiques are scouring the world for shopping. We meet in the designer’s showroom with a model, always very skinny… we’re shopping just like you: touching the fabric, checking the fit, turning the model around, seeing how it fits the boutique “look” and thinking about the questions you’re asking us (“How do you wash?” hahaha). . We have to be very polite. Like mushrooms.
The orders determine the final supply of the stock, naturally, if there are not enough orders, some items will be discarded. Now that we are at the beginning of the autumn season, the designer needs to buy the right amount of fabric according to the order of each class. After you find the fabric, and while you are busy buying coats and Christmas gifts, the summer collection is being made. We call it “cut to order”. This is why it is not possible to re-order the item after it has been sold.
Fall collection 2022
Last week we hosted one of our favorite designers, NY77 Designs at the Boutique. Alec had just returned from Ukraine and was sewing uniforms for the Ukrainian soldiers. For each finished coat, he’s got the wearer to look after it, and even the inspiration for the next collection.
For his fall collection, one of his teams is based on the Brooklyn Bridge. The print was altered from a photo he took on a rainy night while walking in NY. Another group is based on the new Japanese innovation in the embroidery scene. Not only is the space ten times larger than conventional machines, it also has the ability to create different heights of embroidery. Real 3D!
And that’s why we love the Mushroom Man!
