cocoon dress — lemon

Momoko Suzuki and her husband Alexander Yamaguchi, the duo behind Black Crane, have become arbiters of modern minimalism.  with a mission to refine, “a silhouette that complements supple lines and comfort,” Black Crane distills garments to their most essential elements — quality fabrics, thoughtful (yet sparing) details like raw-edged necklines, and a no-fuss color palette — rendering them easily wearable and versatile.  we’re happy to welcome the line to our shelves this season.

square top — cream

carpenter pant — cream + tank top — cream

while Black Crane is rooted in its founders’ interest in their Japanese heritage, all the sustainable production processes for the collection, including fabric weaving, take place locally in Los Angeles. their linen and cotton combinations define effortless dressing for this season — a breath of fresh, cool air on the warm summer days ahead.

shop all of our offerings from black crane here.

cocoon dress — charcoal + royal

cocoon dress — royal

square top — grey

images by mary ferrill

we seem to be after them every season: the perfectly versatile dresses. they are pieces that assimilate so effortlessly into a wardrobe, one might wonder how it was possible to have not owned them before. or at least, such good versions of them. this season it’s that good, and it’s from 7115 by szeki — a line whose self-defined pillars are aesthetic, quality, and attainability, and whose streamlined designs we instantly fell in love with when we first saw them in the fall.  we visited 7115's lower east side store and chatted with szeki about her line and how she's arrived where she is now. 

ten minutes into our conversation, it is evident that where we are standing — the clean and compact storefront devoted to, and old as 7115 itself — has been integral to the success of the line.  "you learn so much; you really see," szeki explains, in regards to interacting with customers in the store, where she still works two to three days a week.  with a background that includes a brief career as a singer in her native china and with jewelry as her first foray into design, since 2010, szeki has focused on apparel. in that time, she hasn't had to rely on the seasonal cycle of retailers to gauge the success of particular designs. "when you have a store, it makes it easy. put it in your market and do a test." by this season's collection, most shapes are not entirely new.  silhouettes are refined, not replaced.  a zipper is reoriented, an elastic band is added, a new fabric is introduced.  

now a staple of the line, the kimono dress went through two years of samples before it arrived at its current iteration. on what made it, she says, "not until I saw the right fabric - it clicked."  the impetus for modifying a particular style often comes directly from customer feedback, which szeki cherishes and identifies as her main source of inspiration, a word which the fashion world demands all contemporary designers define. she insists several times throughout our visit that she is not a, "clothes person," and does not keep up with fashion's current.  favoring the pragmatic over the conceptual, szeki is a problem solver.  she sees a new opportunity each time a person walks through her doors.  she locates her goal around wanting to make, "things that make you happy and feel good."  despite her lack of formal fashion training, she has a parsons degree in design and technology, which she loosely describes as exploring social interaction with technology.  this suddenly seems quite apt.

the origami dress hangs in 7115 by szeki's LES store — shop here.

if 7115's storefront is its driving design force, the line's manufacturing structure allows for it. the clothes are exceptionally well-made. szeki retains ownership of production and a unique, even familial, relationship with the creation of her pieces. her mother runs a 7115 office in hong kong, an hour from qinzhou, where the workshop and studio is located. they employ graduates from qinzhou university to craft the line. szeki acknowledges the benefit of hiring and retaining a group of talented individuals, many of whom have been with her since the line's inception, "when the person is always with a company and they really understand the standard, their hands are only going to get better."  

when we first began to add clothing into the scarpa mix, it followed a logistical requirement. for lack of a dressing room, you had to be able to slip on pieces at the register. unsurprisingly, sweaters dominated this category.  though our offerings (and dressing rooms) have since expanded, knitwear has remained a favorite. we’re always excited to see what’s new in the woolen realm, and in the case of uk-based &Daughter, whom we welcome to our shelves this fall, what’s old is, in fact, new.

in 2013, buffy reid founded &Daughter with her father, a veteran of the textile industry, with the intent to create updated versions of classic sweaters.  it's sort of like this: imagine if you borrowed a beautiful vintage aran cardigan or fair isle knit from your father or grandfather and as you slipped it on, it somehow felt totally modern and fresh, mainly because it actually fit the way you wanted it to fit. now imagine craftspeople (who, as buffy describes, "have knitwear in their blood") in Scotland and Ireland using time-honored techniques to fashion this sweater.  behold, the creations from &daughter.  buffy was gracious enough to answer some questions about heritage, the surprises of starting her own line, and how she spends her days off.  

it’s been nearly two years since you launched the first &Daughter collection. what have been the most unexpected moments in the journey thus far?

one of the most surprising things has been our customers. it was one thing I didn’t expect when we launched, especially as we were only online in the beginning so we weren’t meeting people face to face but ever since the first collection we’ve received the most amazing emails and letters from our customers thanking us for their orders and telling us their stories. i’m so grateful that someone would take the time to write to us and it’s always so interesting to hear where they come from and how they feel about the piece they’ve bought - it’s definitely the best and most unexpected thing.

heritage seems to be integral to &Daughter – both in the sense that you work with your dad and that your pieces are in conversation with the past. could you speak a bit about what heritage means to you and your work?

the word ‘heritage’ can be tricky as it’s often used as shorthand for something nostalgic or traditional. for &Daughter heritage is about quality - the unique skill and knowledge which comes from generations of craftsmanship, the timelessness of something made in the best way, from the best raw materials. that said, there is something innately romantic about knitwear that comes from it’s age and history. my dad always says there’s nothing that can be knit that hasn’t been knit before and so the interesting part becomes how those things are reinterpreted in ways that feel modern and relevant today.

the &Daughter woman is _________________.

always herself. 

how do you spend your days off?

a good book, a long walk, an afternoon movie and a strong Margherita (or two).

i love that initial phrase on the “about” section of your site, “a belief in provenance.” where would you locate the provenance of &Daughter?

the provenance of &Daughter comes from growing up in an Irish family of knitters with a Granny who knit without ever following a pattern, but created the most amazing things. from my Dad who worked in knitwear his whole career and taught me before I knew he really had, the beauty of an expert stitch, the hand-feel of a good yarn, and the difference between something made badly and made well. from moving to London and going to St Martins and learning how to look at things and now from being lucky enough to work with some of the oldest factories in Scotland and Ireland with craftspeople who have knitwear in their blood.

what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

she who dares, wins. (a catchphrase of the character delboy from british sitcom only fools and horses)

shop our pieces from the &daughter fall collection here.

for the desk :: mara mi acrylic tray |  s/n brass pen tray |  s/n brass paper clip holder

with coclico jojo sandals & lizzie fortunato rosetta pendant neckalce

adventure ready :: misc. goods co. flask |  la vache salted caramels |  monolith studio utility knife | ito bindery memo block

with jamie joseph brown druzy ring & jerome dreyfuss 'norbert' tote

bag essentials :: ito bindery memo block |  misc. goods co. playing cards |  s/n brass bottle opener   

with lizzie fortunato ear jackets & jerome dreyfuss 'gary' bucket bag