January is as a month generally known for fresh beginnings, when one usually takes some time off from the hectic urban, fast paced life to reflect and rewire. Us on the other hand consider this month as the time of the year when goals are being set, budgets are being planned and strategies for the new year are put on a mile long to-do lists which will dictate the tempo for the following months. This year though, we went a step further, as on top of this tiring planning non-sense we’ve decided to add yet another thing to do, launch a new collection. What a bunch of lunatics, right? Well to be honest, even though having a clear picture of where your brand is headed is crucial to its success, organizing Excel sheets and preparing long lists can oftentimes get tiresome and suck the life out of you. So we thought what a better way to cure winter blues than working on something new, something that will get our creative juices flowing and get us out of the funky laziness, post-holiday mood we’re experiencing every winter. And that’s how the Magic 8 started to take its inception in the imaginative corners of our minds.
1. The Magic 8
Inspired by eight badass women whose beauty and vivacious presence marked the 70s, 80s and 90s, the Magic 8 Collection is a narrative dedicated to the rebellious feminine spirit of these decades and the colorful lives these women led. Just like every single one of our collections, this one also celebrates bold women with a potent attitude and stature. Being an eclectic mix of all these different periods, the collection features sophisticated wearable pieces with a dose of glam femininity. So who are the eight women? Well, we thought you’d never ask.
We’ve started thinking about the 70s and how we loved the silhouettes, the shapes, the colors and the rebelious spirit of the women representative of that decade. Inspired by the mystical persona of Stevie Knicks, the masculine, yet sophisticated styling ofAli MacGraw in Love Story and the Bohemian allure of Bianca Jagger’s 70s outfits, our first three designs were conceived to reflect the influence these women had on dictating the fashion rules back in the 70s. As we hopped to the next decade of the audacious 80s when broad shoulders and sky high voluminous hairstyles drove the fashion world, we found Farrah Fawecett’s character in Charlie’s Angels and Michelle Pfeiffer’s role in Scarface as a major style inspiration, followed by the refreshing simplicity of the 90s transcended through the style of major fashion icons like Kim Basinger, Elizabeth Hurley and Jennifer Anniston.
2. Inspiration Behind The Designs
While researching different sewing techniques, we came across one very interesting embroidery method used in England since the Middle Ages called smocking. What we were looking for essentially was to improve our production method and provide a better quality and fit for our customers, while maintaining affordable prices. This elastic shirring method of gathering of the fabric into pleats in a variety of ways gave us the flexibility in terms of fit. It also provided a very classy and polished feminine look, thus elevating a centuries old technique and making it relevant again. Gentle ruffle details complemented with delicately scalloped neck trim, puffy sleeves and Greek necklines added just the right touch of sophistication.The eclectic mix between this technique, the 70s Bohemia, the 80s audacity and the 90s simplicity made the whole collection wholesome, relevant and contemporary. Or at least that’s what we would like to believe.
3. Styling
Our styling has always been a bit on the safe side. We love minimalism and so we always go for the delicate version of accessories rather than chunky ones, because we believe that there’s a very thin line between tasteful and tacky and if you cross it, you risk your outfit gaining the wrong kind of attention. However, this time the flowing ankle-length dresses with a hippy-ish vibe demanded that we step up our game and experiment with bolder type of jewellery. So to accentuate the playful attitude of the dresses out stylist did two combinations. One included color blocking accessories like turban hair bands and oversized earrings that complemented the pastel colors of the dresses and the other one was a very subtle version of delicate tones of gold and silver, complemented by muted beige tones of straw and wooden bags.
“Each one of the dresses had its own story to tell, so each was an inspiration by itself. When I was thinking about the styling I considered the fact that the dresses although feminine and romantic had a certain kind of edginess to them. So I incorporated exotic, glamorous, bold and statement making pieces to highlight their chicness and sophistication. I’ve used wide brim hats for the designs that reminded me of the French Riviera, eye-catching turban and striking golden detailed headbands for the pieces that reminded me of the East’s mystery.” — Milena Tanaskoska, Bastet Noir’s stylist
4. The Photoshoot
Remember that thing we’ve said about constantly learning? Well last year, all of our photoshoots were taken throughout various outside locations because we wanted the color of the actual dresses to be as closer as possible to the colors on the photos and shooting in a studio with many lights can really alter the appearance of the shades therefore making it impossible to represent the real outfit.
However, this way of shooting didn’t do justice to the pieces, as there was too much attention being given to the surroundings, rather than the pieces alone. So this year we thought that if we really wanted to capture the essence of the pieces, we needed to shoot them on a white plain background with as little details as possible. So to complement the pastel tones, we’ve opted for wooden details like straw chairs, dry flowers and beige cane accessories. This way we achieved the luxe luster we believe was lacking in our previous lines.
And voila that’s how we managed to keep our sanity intact this January. If you want to find out more and see the pieces click here. Promise we won’t disappoint.