Cotton as a starting point

Every piece in the pre-spring collection starts with cotton. It's a fiber that metamorphoses across a spectrum of durable and tough to fine and soft. It's the fabric we trust most against skin, during transition weather, in the hot summer, all through a long day. Cotton tolerates wrinkles, softens over time, and breathes the way full synthetic never can.

But composition alone doesn't tell us everything about the fabric. The plant remains, the fiber stays steady, and from there the paths diverge entirely. The way cotton is woven determines its weight, its texture, how it falls from the body, whether it holds a pressed collar or flows loosely at the hem. Two garments made from cotton can feel like completely different fabrics, and they are.

Poplin and sateen

Three styles of our Camille top and Corinne skirt are made in cotton poplin, a plain weave with a fine crosswise rib that gives the fabric a crisp, light feel to the hand. Poplin holds its shape without being stiff. It has a clean surface that takes color well, which is why we could make the Camille in several distinct hues, and each one feels true to the color rather than washed out or muddy.

The creme Camille and Corinne are composed of cotton sateen, woven so that more of the lengthwise threads sit on the surface, creating a soft sheen that shifts when it catches the light. Sateen is a little heavier than poplin, with more drape and a smoother hand. It falls closer to the body. Where the poplin is bright and clean, the sateen creme is warmer, almost luminous in the right light.

What weight and weave change

These are not details most people think about when buying a shirt or a skirt, but they are details you feel against your skin. A cotton skirt holds its volume at the hem. Weight and weave are the decisions that happen before silhouette, before color, before trim, and they shape everything that comes after.

Something new on the table

We have been working on a new piece in a cotton we have not used before, lighter and airier than our poplin, with a different hand entirely. It is not ready to see the world yet, but we are excited about how this fabric behaves, how it flows, the way it holds fine detail work. More to share soon.