The idea to work on a beachwear collection has always been stuck in the back of my mind ever since I launched Bastet Noir. As a lover of Boho style and all things comfy that don’t take too much time or require too much effort to put on, I’ve always felt like if it was socially acceptable, I could wear beachwear everyday, everywhere. However, civilized society had other plans in mind, so I don’t, but that didn’t stop me from co-designing one nonetheless.
When we started discussing this with our stylist and co-designer Milena, we both were as excited as we were terified. Bastet Noir’s customer base is primarly shopping for ocassion dresses and we’ve never done a beachwear collection before, so we were a bit unsure as to how we were going to pull this off. But we rolled our sleeves and just dove in uncharted waters and the result is a line I’m extremely proud of. It’s the first time I like each and every piece and don’t feel like we could have done a better job. It’s a collection that instantly swiches my mind on vacation mode, as I’m sure it will do for you.
Much like the woman who inspired it, the Pure Shores Collection is made to honour bold, badass, bursting with fortitude babes whose courage knows no boundaries. It’s essentially a beachwear line that features oversized, floor-skimming silhouettes blended with sassy cuts, playful slits and sleek V-shaped and heart necklines made in the softest, most delicate natural repurposed leftover cotton, linen, silk and cupro silk fabrics. The line celebrates artisanal craft through production practices that involve extreme attention to complex detailing, as it features delicate French seams across every design. Not only is it environmentally beneficial but, at a humanitarian level, it is supporting artisans in a corner of the world where fashion as art is a dying form. Made by a community of women single parents in North Macedonia, just like with every other collection we make, this too is made-to-order and made-to-measure only, available in very small limited quantities.
Let’s unravel the whole process of making it, shall we?
Materials Hunt
Unlike other collections, where the color pallete was decided on the spot, for this one we already knew what we were looking for. We knew that white is going to be the focal color and so the initial idea was everything we designed to be in shades of white. This time around we also wanted to use only natural fabrics that have embroidered, embossed and woven in details. Imagine our surprise when we found all of these in bigger rolls and so the process of hunting these lasted only 2 hours, which never happens. But you know what they say, ask and you shall be given.
You know how we always cover the entire process of making a collection by writing about it? Well this time we decided to change the approach a bit and put it all in a video instead. We know just how much you love your videos babes. So we do hope you enjoy this one.
Material hunting for the Pure Shores Collection by Bastet Noir x Pupi Milena
Production Process
The whole production process for this collection lasted approximately 1 month from the time when we got the materials to the time when we finished the last piece. As always, me and Milena were francically pinning for months prior to starting on anything else and then started hand-drawing the designs. We’re sharing the next steps in a video covering the process of the pattern making, tailoring the fabric, assembling the pieces, all the way to the final look of the item. Bellow it’s documented the entire process of the making of the Dola Dress, minus the scketching.
The making of the Dola Dress by Bastet Noir x Pupi Milena
Photoshoot
As a small label with limited resources, sadly we are not able to hire an entire team to work on the photoshoots, so everything we shoot is in-house in a small, but very cosy and lovely photo studio. The photos as always were shot and edited by the lovely Elena, while the styling was done by Milena.
Here’s a little sneak peek of what went down at the photoshoot.
Behind the scenes of the photoshoot for The Pure Shores Collection by Bastet Noir x Pupi Milena
The Transparency — Pricing
Last year, we decided to go fully transparent and this year is no different. With so much going on in the world right now we feel like it’s our duty to make you stress less, especially when it comes to shopping. After all shopping should be fun and carefree. Every piece has a cost breakdown of the exact expenses made when making that item, as well as the exact number of hours it took us to make a piece. This is what it looks like and it will appear separately under the description of every item.
The cost breakdown of The Psame Dress
And that’s that folks. If you want to know more about the story behind the inspiration for the designs, dive right into this article.