For spring, Maria McManus was directly inspired by the Björk quote, “I feel the 21st century is another new age. Not only can we collaborate again with nature, but we have to. It’s an emergency.”
As a result, she continued to expand on her sustainable practices, working with new natural materials such as Cradle to Cradle air spun cashmere and organic linen across more casual takes on breezy, classic wardrobing.
“We’re always iterating on what we’ve always done. It’s part of my message; it’s more of an evolution rather than a dramatic change,” McManus said, showing her first look — an organic cotton trench — inside out to display its craft and quality and to reinforce the idea of rewearing good quality, timeless pieces rather than buying into newness each season. “That’s actually the white poplin shirt from our very first collection,” she said of spring’s button-up.
But there was quite a bit of evolution this season: grounded organic linen and cotton daywear (a great red T-shirt with matching trousers); sheer deadstock organza skirts, and a selection of handcrafted fashions and accessories made in partnership with artisans.
“It’s imperative that people really start taking their consumer habits as a responsibility to support local; support female, and support small — whatever you can afford, whatever you can do,” McManus said backstage, speaking about this season’s challenge of finding hangers that are sustainable, as well as the collection’s overall emphasis on collaborating with nature.
In that vein, the collection’s black velour tunic styled over a striped skirt was finished with crochet hand-done in Bolivia, as was an organic cotton black dress; the little black caps were hand made in Brooklyn by Heather Huey, and fully biodegradable rattan bags were crafted by Underwater Weaving.
“We took it from the earth, and it goes back into your compost,” she said of the basket bags.