A confident woman

who appreciates her body and likes to stand out.

When we begin a collection, it always starts with the "story." For
fall '09 the story was based around "once were princes, now are
thieves." It was a story of princes that chose to become bandits
and ride through the desert on black horses. We visualized a
"cosmic caravan" of warriors, magicians, and medicine women.

Once the story is developed we start illustrating it through the prints.
We draw, paint, and collage our ideas to come up with the prints. It's
a lot like costuming: we imagine what our "lead" would wear and
where she would wear it. After all our ideas go up on the board in
the studio, there's an editing process. Sometimes the prints are too
over-the-top and need to be tamed, and sometimes they need to be
pushed to get them to stand out and really feel like a "Mara
Hoffman." When the prints are finished, we move on to the bodies.
We design around the prints, trying to create shapes that are sexy,
unique, and show off the prints in a smart, unexpected way.

I adore India! The colors, the people, the culture—all of it. I feel like
India always finds its way into the collections, even if it's not in an
obvious "India way." It shows up in a spirit way, through color,
shape, and boldness.

I love finding artists' work that inspires and provokes me to push my own
limits of design. My husband is also an artist, he works in collage, and he
has influenced me as well. Collage is so great because you can create ANY
story; there are no limits to what the reality can be. Personally, I love
working in fashion design because it involves the body. The challenge is to
create work that is functional, protective, and beautiful at the same time.

I would have to say the PEACE scarf. It's timely and sends a message, and
it can be worn by any age and any body type.