Sarah Staudinger was sitting in a lush greenhouse in Los Angeles for the Zoom review of her resort collection. The backdrop was actually a 1920s greenhouse, connected to her home, which she spent the last year restoring and converting into her personal ceramics studio.
“I have been working here for the last six months to a year. It has become my favorite place and a great source of inspiration, especially for the resort collection,” she said.
It's been raining in Los Angeles for most of those months, said Staudinger, who is not a fan of the cloudy May and gray, gloomy June weather, as it's known locally. But his character changed as he worked in a space full of wildflowers where the outside and inside blend.
“It has brought a new sense of optimism,” he said of the location, which became the focal point of his resort inspiration with its calming palette (wood, cloudy gray and raindrop blue); Serene and relaxed mood and femininity tinged with flowers. “It's an area where I can play and be creative.”
The collection opened with a fuzzy gray sweater over a striking gray paillette skirt, emulating the bright raindrops on the glass greenhouse windows. The look showcased the collection's new approach to dressing both day and night with irreverence, rather than matching outfits, she said.
The same could be said for pretty paillette dresses and light blue midi skirts, worn with the brand's matching wool Sanza coat or with a classic white tank top and structured ballet flats. The draped knit dresses with their signature Moon buckle, paired with the collection's earthy shoes and raffia bags in wood-brown tones, had the same effortless ease.
Other nods to the greenhouse came via beautiful floral jacquard brocade “Antoinette” coats, worn as a dress or more casually with new swimsuits and a button-down shirt; apron and tablecloth inspired by 1940s tie-dyed plaid styles (a pencil skirt, a casual coat, or shrunken ladies' jackets and shorts), and the cascading, painterly Victorian “Walk in the Park” print on a dress and a fluid skirt.
The range was nicely rounded out with a wide variety of mix and match basics, ranging from special occasion looks to basics and refined knitwear (both cashmere and alpaca). She continued to flesh out the idea with lots of new footwear, including heeled mules and grosgrain-trimmed flats, and bags, like holiday clutches or large leather totes, perfect for carrying craft supplies to and from the greenhouse. .
