Six years young and already stealing the spotlight, Maiyet celebrated individualism, irresistibility, and ethicalness with its fall/winter 2016 collection. Just last year, the label, launched by human rights lawyer Paul Van Zyl, welcomed Declan Kearney as the house’s first creative director. Ever since, Kearney stayed true to important ethical philosophies while spicing up New York Fashion Week with impressive designs. By collaborating with FAIR Cashmere—the only “certified ethical and environmentally sustainable luxury cashmere yarn in the world”—and artisans from India, Kearney is instilling Zyl’s original well-minded approaches into a beautiful new luxury collection.
This season, Kearney was especially inspired by the photography, architecture, and designs of Carlo Mollino. Kearney looked toward the contrasting interiors of Mollino and John Lautner as means for a unique color palette, and for voyeuristic, modern, and mid-century silhouettes.
Courtesy of Maiyet
Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2016-2017
“I was very inspired by interiors; the intimacy that comes from being in a comfortable interior,” said Kearney after Maiyet’s fashion show last week. “When you’re at home…you’re kind of in your comfort zone. I wanted to capture that in the clothes. So we had fabrics like a boucle, which represented, kind of, a carpet, and then you see very pattern-y silks, which [are like] wall coverings.”
On Kearney’s mood board, sensual images were collaged among photographs of gaudy ceilings, fluid wallpaper designs, and interior furniture, with deep colors of forest green, charcoal gray, deep purple, and dusty pink at its base. “Just from the sense of coloration and the capturing of it—they’re quite, well, provocative,” he said.
Courtesy of Maiyet
Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2016-2017
In the show, models floated by in an array of attire: tweed snap front coats, satin trenches, draped gowns of silk, leather strapless dresses, bustier jumpsuits, and Alpaca wool ottoman capes. There were 29 looks evoking the sensuality and intimacy that the Maiyet woman emobdies. And for the finale, Anna Cleveland, Supermodel Pat Cleveland’s daughter and Kearney’s muse for this collection, led the models in single-file line to a playful Italian version of “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.”
Courtesy of Maiyet
Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2016-2017
Courtesy of Maiyet
Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2016-2017
