Spring 2012 Preview!

3/20/2012 posted by Jenn

As I set out to create the Spring 2012 line up, I knew I wanted to put together a collection that was just as fun, bright, and lively as our first shirts…but also a bit simpler and more wearable for ‘plain jane’ girls like myself. Despite the rainbows that live in my brain, when I get dressed it’s pretty darn understated sans any ‘flair’. Heather grey and black have a strong presence in my closet.

So how to have fun, but keep it super simple, super wearable. That was my challenge…..

I found myself looking at iconic women of the 50′s and 60′s – Jackie O, Grace Kelly – and admiring their posh looks that featured bright colors.  I spent late nights watching Mad Men, in love with how Betty Draper could own pale yellow and how Joan never shied away from a firecracker red. The women of this era knew how to rock a colored print.

And yet, they were SOOO buttoned up. Fitted garments and tight lines. There was an inherent stiffness that didn’t jive with our run story. I wanted to take all those classic patterns and saturated colors and relax them just a bit…

I stumbled on this picture of  Jackie O on vacation and the puzzle was solved – classic women on Day 3 of vacation… relaxed, sun-warmed, heart happy. The hosiery is gone, the huaraches are on. Her suitcase is still full of stripes, dots, & chevrons, but now she’s wearing them in a deconstructed style and all of a sudden sitting on a dusty stone floor to doodle daydreams seems quite reasonable. My guess is there’s a glass of Sangria on her other side. It’s Jackie O with an infusion of Brigette Bardot. It’s how we feel after a great run…beautiful, confident, free.

So we started with my desire for a marine stripe I could wear with ‘boyfriend jeans’. Our amazing designer Cassidy took watercolors and made a messy, loose stripe. Classic, yes. Uptight, no.

Next up was my desire to make a ‘solid color’ tee that didn’t feel like a ‘solid color’. Enter textural swatches of bold, saturated paint with tiny phrases tucked in to delight:

And I just didn’t feel a line inspired by women of the 50′s and 60′s would be complete without a classic chevron. I’ve become a little obsessed with chevron, but boy is it hard to make it wearable versus something that looks like it should be on a throw pillow. I knew I wanted it to be classic black and white, but this also seemed like the right place to PLAY…

Our Chevron Hills tank is bold and beautiful, yet not perfectly defined. Life doesn’t always color within the lines and neither do we. We’re embracing the loose, the messy, the wild ride… Wanna come?

We’re crazy excited to share this Spring collection with you. Whether you end up getting to run in a fabulous location this season or just around your neighborhood – we hope you’ll be inspired the qualities seeped into our bright new tops!

Check out our shop for the full collection….