In the midst of the fashion month fracas, who among us doesn’t perk up at the thought of a little serenity? Shaina Mote’s latest lineup offers that in spades. The Los Angeles–based talent launched her eponymous range back in 2012, and since then has been turning out the kind of too-cool basics that have caught the eye of stockists like Totokaelo, Assembly New York, The Dreslyn, and Bird.
For Spring, Mote eschewed extremes, instead plumbing the possibilities of what she dubbed “where things collide,” notions of ambiguity and contrasting sensibilities—simple, soigné pieces that marry clean architectural qualities with an organic feel and a palette inspired by that murky time “where day becomes night.” First taught to sew by the mother of a childhood friend, Mote developed an “obsession” with pattern-making that seems to still be reflected in the soft geometry of her clothes today: wrap pants in deep indigo denim or a three-in-one midi dress whose rectangular side panels can be worn down, knotted in front for a sarong-like effect, or wrapped and tied with cords that disappear into those self-same panels. Even more harmonious? A white circle skirt with cascading, asymmetrical knife pleats and a delicately fraying hemline.
Mote debuted knits for Fall ’15, but it’s a medium she could hardly seem better suited to. Much of them knitted in Los Angeles, this season’s styles were made in collaboration with fellow L.A. designer Kieley Kimmel, inspired by the work of the textile artist Anni Albers. If not outwardly crafty, there’s a definite hand to pieces like the almost-textural, mottled coloring of a sweater inspired by Albers’s sketches. Mote enlisted another local comrade in the form of Mondo Mondo’s Natasha Ghosn, who lent her talents to the capsule of four elegantly arty jewelry styles, eccentrically hewn pieces (earrings, two chunky rings, and a bangle) in white bronze and sterling. We’re feeling calmer already.
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