Sage Green, Raspberry Milkshake And Others: On Our Pastel Tones

Although we draw heavy inspiration from the Brits in autumn (oh, those tweeds), Scandis in winter (cold tones, layered minimalism), and rely heavily on Ivy Style classics in the transitional seasons, late spring and the whole summer are all about southern Europe, particularly Italy, for us.

I guess it might be because of the continental climate - proper-cold winters (although rarer) and proper-hot summers (getting longer and more severe) make you accustomed to the extremes and might sometimes make you feel as if you were living in a different country throughout the year.

Well, it is interesting to see how such weather and surroundings changes might impact one’s preferences in style. For us, when designing collections, it totally changes the perception of colors and textures, making us choose completely different fabrics for the seasons. Sometimes it leads to some unexpected results, like the pastel theme of our current collection.

So, Tomek, how did it happen?

Tomek

I have to be honest: if someone had told me 2 years ago that we would be having a plaid jacket in sage and raspberry tones, I would have said that a cactus would grow on my palm (this pun probably makes sense only in Polish, sorry!).

And so it happened: I got photographed with a cactus and the color palette for our spring/summer 2024 is a mixture of peach, raspberry, sage, pistachio, and cream. This proves a few things:

First of all, how fast and fluid the fashion trends are; even in so-called timeless classic menswear!

The sage suit was love at first sight for me, at a trade fair in Milan. An elegant, elderly Italian guy - most likely one of the owners of clothing companies present there - wore one with a cream shirt, navy blue tie, and polo brown tassel loafers. Molto bene!

And no, it wasn't a whim that we wanted such a product, rather a subconscious desire that pushed through our heads, ultimately leading to saying YES when choosing swatches for the collection.

Secondly: you need to keep your eyes wide open and not only look at the fabrics available. Think broader!

For example: this raspberry milkshake, with peach undertones. At a similar time, each of us was thinking about adjacent colors - Asia with an emphasis on pinkish orange, Mateusz with a vision of creamy “milkshake” tones, and me, of light red, enchanted by strawberries served at Wimbledon (which was happening right then).

By the way, it turned out to be not the only inspiration taken from this tournament: for all the lucky spectators, a cream blazer would be a fresh and appropriate choice for the setting.

Thirdly: talking about fresh. Our selections, especially those dedicated to summer ceremonies and weddings, are not carbon copies of what customers ask for; rather, we tend to reach for what we like.

We try to make things our way, creatively, on many levels: we experiment with cuts (3-roll-2 buttoning, quarter lining), we look for interesting fabrics (silk, linen, wool, and mixes), and again, we play with the colors. The navy blue and green solaro suit from Tallia Delfino is a good example - unique, subdued (yet shiny), might be called an example quiet luxury.

So what are the common features of our collection?

Certainly the colors we have chosen - intertwining raspberry, sage, and cream - which are iridescent with vitamin D, adding a much-needed smile after winter. :)

During the photoshoot, we combined these as much as we wanted, sometimes spontaneously changing plans - and I must admit that it all works beautifully. This is an intended and desired effect as we want our collection to become a kind of capsule in which all the things go together, but not always in an obvious way.

We got it, I think!