A while ago, I came upon this book on Goodreads whose storyline was about a woman banished by the Gods and forced to spend the entirety of her immortal life alone on a remote island, doomed to spend her days in solitude. I was immediately hooked. So I got it on my Kindle and started reading it. As I did, I realized just how much this woman resembled many others and yet she was nothing like any other. Here she was facing her solitude head on, all the while paving a path to build up her confidence, strengthen her charachter and reclaim the power she lost while trying to conform to rules set up by powerful men and shrink to fit expectations of small minded people. It got me thinking, what a badass.
So rewind few years later, the first thing that came into my mind when we were contemplating of launching a beachwear collection together with our stylist Milena was an image of this unapologetically fierce woman, Circe she was called, sipping a cocktail on the shores of her private island and giving us the nod of approval. I thought that’s damn straight banging. Right then and there, I knew I wanted to dedicate this line to her. But calling the collection Circe left very little room to name the items, so the next best thing was to call it something that will forever be associated with her and that to me were endless shores of tiny grains of sand spread on a surface as far as the eyes can see and nothing but the sound of waves to disturb that peace of calming silence. Enter “Pure Shores”. Now all that was left was for the women after whom the pieces would be named to be equally compelling and convey her unique story in a respective manner. So Elena and I restled with this for a while and after a day of extensive research and minds literally drained to the point of just giving up, I thought well hold on, what Circe is essentially surrounded with is nature and endless amounts of water. Who better to represent her best than the goddess of water. So I went down the rabbit hole again and fished out the names of all of the godesses of water in all world’s mythologies and the selection came down to 9. So sit back, pour yourself a Pinacolada and let yourself be inspired by these awesome women as you enjoy the unravelling of the Pure Shores collection.
The Dola Dress
Before starting to work on this collection, I wasn’t aware that Slavs had their own mythology, so when I read about it, I thought, ok let’s explore this. While doing the research, what I came across was the legend of Dodola, a Slavic goddess of the rains. Dodola, was the wife of the supreme deity Perun. Legend has it that in times of drought, young boys and girls dressed up in a net and wreath of leaves and walked from house to house, singing, dancing and pouring water over each other to summon the rain. This tradition carried on up until the 1960s in Macedonia.
The cream white color complemented with the vertical embossed stripes of the softest cotton fabric wraps gently around every body type. We kept the kaftan cut, but added puffy sleeves with ruched detailing at the front for that “wowza” effect. To edge it up we opened the neckline into a deep V that goes all the way down to the natural waistline and added a thigh high dramatic slit at the front and two from the sides for extra movement and for whenever your legs need some attention. The laces around the waist make it possible to shrink or expend the dress as much as you want to. The back follows the front as it narrows down in a dramatic deep V opening.
The Stia Jumpsuit
According to Macedonian mythology, stii were female creatures with long hair and fish like tails, in other mythologies known as mermaids. They are known to live in the depths of lakes, notoriously known for their mysticism, beauty and hauntingly fatal attraction.
Featuring a deep V-neckline, knot waistline detail and baloon sleeves, the Stia Jumpsuit is made of the softest cotton fabric that falls gently on the body. The pattern of the fabric has circles embossed that spread across the entire surface of the material. The wide leg pants, give you that, much needed comfort, while the entangled waist detail and the baloon sleeves make it the perfect transition piece from hot summer days into hot summer nights.
The Vedy Dress
Vedy, also known as the Macedonian goddess of water springs is the next goddess we named a dress after. Sadly, there’s not much known about this deity, apart from the fact that the Macedonian word for water ‘voda’ is derived from the name of this goddess. Talking about fun facts, am I right?
3D palm detailing adorn this material, applied on the softest of cotton base fabric. To emphasise the beauty of the fabric itself, we decided to go with a simple A-line silhouette following the classical cut of a simple shirt dress adding only details like slightly puffy, slightly balooned sleeves. The deep V neckline ends at the waist merging with three buttons for closure as it opens up in ‘as high as you dare’ front slit.
The Tefi Dress
Tefnut is the Egyptian goddess of moisture, dew and rain. She had the power to control vast surfaces of water, as well as bring rain to drought places. She was one of the most important deities in Ancient Egypt, mostly due to the fact that Egypt was situated in a desert where water oftentimes was scarce. The Tefi Dress bares its name after her.
The vertical stripes of this pattern are complemented by a variety of different tones of soft caramel, brushes of watercolor blacks enlivened by hues of purple with splashes of white dots. The fabric looks more like a moving piece of art than a dress. Not to ruin its potency we decided to go with the classical shape of a kaftan and just add angel shaped sleeves and a very dramatic V-neckline. The dress length skimms the floor and feels so lightly that you barely notice you have it on.
The Danu Dress
Danu is a Celtic goddess of rivers, water, wells, prosperity, magic, and wisdom. Not much is known about this goddess, apart from the fact that she was considered to be a sorceress. She is also the inspiration behind the Danu Dress.
Last year, you all loved the Lucia Dress, so this year we thought we bring you a 2.0 version of it, hence the Danu Dress. The softness of the cotton paisley pattern is complemented by the structural property of the linen. The dress has ultra mini length, elbow length see-through baloony sleeves, heart shaped neckline, hidden back zipper and waist belt linen detail. The bodice is fully linned with linen to keep the whole design more structural.
The Neha Dress
Nehalennia is the Norse-Germanic goddess of the North Sea. It is believed that sometime after the third century, her temple was covered by the ocean and rediscovered back again in the 1645. The Neha Dress carries her name.
Made of a leftover pure silk, addorned by stripes of silver horizontal lines, the Neha Dress is mid calf long with two front belts that wrap up to form a knot at the front. It’s the perfect beach cover-up to take over fancy resorts, if you’re into that sort of thing. It has a classical shirt collar, long sleeves and is completely see through. The horizontal lines of the cuffs are complemented by the vertical ones of the sleeves and together they form an aesthetically pleasing shape. This piece has also French seams which are carfully worked on to avoid the appearance of annoying lints.
The Psame Dress
As you’re probably aware by now, the Greeks have gods for everything and so why not for sandy beaches? After all the gods gave them the best ones. Yes, you read that correctly, Psamanthe, after which this dress is named is the Greek goddess of sand beaches.
The Psame Dress is made of pleated satin dress that falls gently and can be worn in multiple ways. The dress features long laces in the back that can wrap around your body for more fited silhouettes or left to fall downward as they follow the line of the dress. It’s floor length and has a dramatic V bareback that can also we worn as a front.
The Jutu Set
Known as the goddess of fountains, wells and springs Juturna is Roman deity. On January 11th, a Roman festival was held in her honor. During that time she was given sacrifices and was honored by the men who maintained the fountains and aqueducts of Rome. The Jutu Set is inspired by her.
The Jutu Set features a caramel cotton oversized shirt and pants with elastic high waist. It’s like your go-to comfy PJ set, but carries with it an elevated grace. The shirt features oversized sleeves with wide hemline, and cuff detailing and two front belts that wrap up to form a knot at the front. The pants are high waisted with vertical embossed details and horizontal details on the cuffs of the sleeves.
The Shi Dress
Shuimu, the Asian goddess of water is the inspiration behind the name of the Shi Dress.
Although the design is the same as last year’s Sofia Dress, we did rework it a bit and upgraded it to make sure it fits you better. The dress is made of the softest cotton fabric in palm print and it features exagerated puff sleeves, complemented with black belt detailing and black buttons.
Dipping our toes in uncharted waters has never felt better. Although we’ve never done a beachwear line before, there’s a first time for everything and it’s our humble belief that we kind of, sort of nailed it. Wouldn’t you say?
The Pure Shores Collection is now available to shop on our website and if you want to know more about what went on behind the scenes, check this post