Spotlight: Suno Fall 2010

SUNO NY FALL 2010

We've been loving SUNO NY long time and their latest collection has only made us fall deeper. Some of you will recall our first encounter with the brand and the stunning kanga pieces in their debut collection. More recently, however, the brand seems to be favoring more of a mixture of influences. In this collection, the fusion of elements including color, metallics, layering, patterns, print, velvet, and range [lots of wonderful separates, dresses, and jackets] might make it seem like utter chaos on paper. However, this collection is a delightful melting-pot and alchemy of sorts, injecting a dose of joy to winter and sustaining it well into spring. Of particular interest to us was their use of glorious prints and patterns to create a collection that's already nudging our wallets and tugging at our heartstrings. The sheer brilliance of this collection is that it does so much but doesn't lose itself to disorderliness in the process. Here's a closer look at the prints and patterns that stood out for us:

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GEOMETRIC PRINT: Africa-inspired without being too obvious. Several African wax prints bear similar geometric patterns, but the use of neon colors made this stand out especially well.

ZIG-ZAG PATTERNS: Featuring a blend of orange and blue and trimmed with floral patterns.

IKAT PRINT: Suno borrows inspiration from Indonesia's famous ikat print, combining it with metallic pieces.

MORE ZIG-ZAG PRINT: Easily some of our favorite pieces worn separately or as is.

EVEN MORE PRINT

With so much to choose from, what's not to love?

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Watch the collection come to life:

INSANE.

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See the entire collection here, see photos from Suno NY's past collections here and shop Suno here.

XO

Photos courtesy of elle and fashionista.

paying attention: the NY Times//designing to an afro beat

[l-r: SUNO NY spring/summer 2009; rodarte spring 2010; na'vi, a character from the movie AVATAR]

in october 2009, we blogged about an article from the New York Times titled "putting african style on the page." once again, the NYT focuses on africa's influence on mainstream culture in a recent piece titled "designing to an afro beat." we're glad africa is slowly but surely getting its due recognition.

read the article here and view its accompanying slideshow, "the in continent", here.

xo

spotlight: SUNO spring/summer 2010

suno's spring/summer 2010 is the stuff dreams are made of. it has the right balance of afro-chic and summer brights all set in a charming, faraway place of your choosing. a particular favorite is suno's use of obi-style african print belts coupled with skinny leather belts (see picture 3 below). absolutely charming.

see the entire collection here.

see our previous posts on suno ny here, including our last post on suno ny's resort 2010 collection.

xo

spotlight: suno ny resort 2010

suno ny's latest offerings have a relaxed fluidity about them, complete with brights, plaid, and checkered print. while suno's first collection was decidedly africa-inspired through and through, subsequent collections have paid silent homage to africa through styling and accessories, including the use of stacked bangles and head wraps. that said, there seems to be a thread of continuity running through the 3 collections we've seen so far especially where accessories are concerned...however, the strong africa influence isn't as apparent as when suno first reared its head. in any case, we're keeping one eye on the suno ny brand and the other on those gorgeous african print wedges ;-)

see the entire resort collection here and here.

xo

spotlight: suno fall 2009

our first encounter with Suno NY by Max Osterweis was several weeks ago and we blogged about his use of kangas and african print here. this fall, Suno takes a walk on the wild side - lots of mixing and matching, clashing and more clashing, and some african print thrown in for good measure. as we've said before, many designers are looking at africa much less literally (i.e. they're not simply making ankara skirts) and are now incorporating it with a mish mash of other influences. here's a closer look at Suno's fall '09 collection:








more photos here.

thoughts?

xo

spotlight: suno by max osterweis

thanks to this month's elle magazine, we've spotted another "out of africa" brand we're very excited about. here's a closer look at Suno by Max Osterweis:



Suno is the result of "more than a decade of collecting textiles"* during trips to Kenya, so that what we have here is essentially a modern take on vintage kanga prints with stunning effects. each piece is developed in New York and patterns are then exported to Kenya where they're mass-produced. another noteworthy point - according to a recent article in the New York Times:

"Many of the [SUNO] prints are also printed with Swahili aphorisms that were originally worn to send messages to fellow villagers, like one that loosely translates as: “Watch your roosters, there’s a new hen in town.”

now that's an approach we haven't quite seen before. we're excited about african designers -- that much you already know. we're even more thrilled to find those among them who have taken the giant leap and exported their brands. it's one thing to be recognized at home, it's another thing to be recognized and respected elsewhere. we hope more african designers will find creative ways to work around the many obstacles that continue to present themselves.



more on suno here.

xo

**EDIT** turns out he's not an african designer but everything we said about african designers still stands, lol. and this doesn't mean we don't like him anymore either :-) **EDIT** (march 20, 2009)

*from sunony

photo credits - refinery29