Meet Our Designers + Artisans
Visit us in person and find even more styles to choose from: Lilla P., Cut Loose, Beaumont Organic, Yoshi Kondo, Frantic, Porto, Labo.Art, Knit Knit, Neeru Kumar, and more...
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Amet & Ladoue
Designer Nathalie Girault is passionate about nature, travel, materials, art and crafts, I began from childhood to touch all materials with which we could create, deform, fibers, earth, fabric, dyes, then I took pencils and brushes!
Avenue Montaigne
The Avenue Montaigne collection epitomizes the way fashionable women dress today worldwide. Founded in 1996 by French designer and owner Daniele Chemla who recognized a void in the affordable luxury market and launched an extensive collection of stretch bottoms and dresses, all manufactured in New York using the distinctive Parisian atelier techniques. Daniele’s eye for impeccable detail, use of luxurious cutting edge fabrics and precise tailoring have made Avenue Montaigne a staple in stylish closets across the globe.
Beaumont Organic
Launched in 2008, Beaumont Organic is a premium, ethical and sustainable fashion brand featuring GOTS certified organic cotton, alongside other sustainable and eco-fabrics such as linen, lyocell, tencel and non-mulesed wool. Sustainably produced and ethically made in Europe the collection includes womenswear, baby wear, homeware and accessories. Known internationally as a women’s wear brand that combines signature styling with contemporary classics. The collection offers a wardrobe of transitional pieces - everything a woman needs to dress up or down, day or night.
Cats With a Heart
CWAH creates second opportunities for formerly incarcerated women.
All our products are manufactured at our CWAH Mexico Studio providing remunerated jobs and professional skills to vulnerable women throughout CWAH Employment and Development Program. The program and workshop facilitate their reinsertion into society.
CWAH aims at ending labor exploitation in the fashion industry, raising awareness about the unsafe and unfair working conditions of garment workers. Besides this challenging endeavor we also pursue other social responsibilities such as using deadstock textiles to make the majority of our products.
Cut Loose
Cut Loose is an extensive line of casual clothing that is sewn and dyed to order in San Francisco. Known for fabrics, flattering fit, simple shapes, and colors. Starting in the late ’70s, street-vending T-shirts and drawstring pants on Fisherman’s Wharf, there were no changing rooms, so the clothes were literally cut loose – one size fits all. Today, the fit is “implied shape,” meaning the shape of the body is implied in a flattering way. When a Cut Loose garment “fits,” it simultaneously flatters the figure and allows room to really move.
Cut Loose keeps their environmental footprint as light as possible. Dyes are non-toxic, and waste water is neutralized so the salt doesn’t corrode the city’s pipes. Fabric tests are re-purposed into scarves, napkins, market bags, even scrunchies, even their labeling is minimalist.
Cynthia Ashby
Constructed with high-quality linen, cotton, and the occasional synthetic in an array of textures and weights. Each piece is dyed for an effect of uncommon depth and color. Modern. Timeless. Edgy. Effortless. Cynthia Ashby pieces are known for comfort, and her customers value quality and delight in making an impression without subscribing to fashion trends. Made in the U.S.A
FELLER
FELLER is a woman-owned company that creates exceptional rain gear, sweaters, and accessories made with natural fibers, sustainable materials, and earth-friendly, water-resistant finishes. They are based in drizzly Seattle and proudly make their products in ethical factories around the world.
Frantic
Frantic is an Italian fashion brand that was founded in Rome by designer Andrea Venturini in 1990. The idea was to combine Italian style with authentic South American tradition into a 100% handmade product.
All styles are 100% hand-knitted, using the finest fabrics in the world, from pure Uruguayan merino wool to baby alpaca.
~Unique, Authentic, Social, Fair.
H+ Hannoh Wessel
Hanno Wessel, born in 1965 in the North of Germany, studied at the « Ecole de la chambre syndicale de la couture Parisienne ». Wessel worked in haute couture for 3 years until he launched his own brand HANNOH in 1994.
His collection had immediate success with buyers and press and the brand’s first collection was sold in shops such as Maria Luisa Paris, Galeries Lafayette, Henri Bendel NY, Charivari NYC,and IF in Soho.
In 2015, Hanno Wessel founded a new company with experienced luxury manufacturers in Italy, to produce and distribute the brand H+HANNOH WESSEL. H+HANNOH WESSEL is made in Italy, and for the designer himself, Italy is now a second home alongside Paris.
Imp of the Perverse
Giovanni Contrada creates one of a kind, unique garments for anyone willing to put their trust and faith into his vision of them. “Make people feel better about themselves”. “Make things that are timeless”. “Make this world a better place than when I found it”. He makes only three sizes. Sexy, Molto Sexy, and Molto Fucking Sexy
Knit Knit
A family owned company started in 2011, and located near Brescia, Italy, Knit Knit is a perfect combination of fit, proportion and volume in a high quality knitwear garment. Styles are unique, innovative, and artistically designed. Made from superior Merino wool in fall/winter and a colorful cotton jersey knitwear collection in spring/summer.
Labo.Art
The company’s hallmark is an attentive study of volumes and their role in space expressed through the architectural design of the single piece of clothing. The key words are: constant research. This process regards colors in all their hues, focusing on the re-interpretation of cotton, wool and linen in essential and modern shapes.
The collection’s main concept draws from the combination of top-quality materials with clean design, and is inspired by the focal, historical moments of fashion, theatre and cinema. The perfect balance of taste and class creates a unique and easily recognizable style.
Labo.Art’s production is of the highest “Made in Italy” standards. Its creative headquarters and flagship store are in Milan, where the company was founded. The collection is distributed in the best multi-brand stores all over the world.
Lilla P.
Founded 20 years ago by Charleston native Pauline Nakios who named the company after her grandmother Lilla, and originally sought to create the “perfect tee”. Lilla P has grown into a global lifestyle brand. With unfettered details, impeccable fit and timeless styling, these are the flattering and functional pieces you’ll reach for over and over, season after season.
M.Patmos
Established in 2012, M.PATMOS designs modern wardrobe staples and sophisticated, textural knitwear meant to be passed down to future generations.
Focused on high quality and minimizing our environmental impact, we’ve worked with small family owned factories and workshops for many years, merging sustainable artisan hand crafted techniques and technology to create beautiful designs in luxurious, natural fibers.
Maelu
Maelu is an ethical women’s apparel line designed by Meghna Dave in her Portland, Oregon studio and handmade in India using traditional artisan techniques such as block printing, hand weaving and screen printing. We focus on sustainable textiles made with natural fibers and vegetable dyes.
Maelu strives to follow a sustainable business model by not only creating naturally made global textiles but by also making responsible business decisions. Maelu directly supports the artisans in India that block-print the fabric and also donates a portion of all profits directly to www.globalfundforwomen.org, a non-profit foundation supporting the advancement of women's human rights around the world.
Margaret Solow
Finds inspiration from art, travel, philosophy, and nature. Whether it is a modern painting, a bird resting on a branch, or the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, her jewelry expresses these elements by distilling them to the simplest visual form. She has been called the 'anti-bling' designer because of her understated approach and use of natural materials. Integral to her business is a deep commitment to responsible manufacturing practices, which includes using sustainable elements and non-conflict gemstones to create her handmade jewelry.
Miki Thumb
Miki Thumb is a fashion label founded and designed by Michela Pollice. The Miki Thumb collection is a small and colorful universe of dresses, shirts, sweaters and accessories which fully express the creativity of their designer.
This label is dedicated to all the contemporary, active and feminine women who feel at ease mixing up simple shapes with a new and eccentric concept of dressing, and each collection expertly combines exclusive bright prints and graphic patterns. The quality and the selection of the materials are key aspects of the manufacture of Miki Thumb, and every piece is proudly made in Italy abiding by the highest standards.
MJW.
MJW was born in 2015 from Maria Grazia and her two daughters Lorenza and Veronica, both designers.After working in the knitwear field for more than 30 years Maria decided to build her own brand, based on refined yarns and working alongside expert Italian manufacturers.
The aim is to create a lasting product for everyday life: simple but refined, with the highest quality and everlasting. We are a small, but energetic team composed of both young talent and those with years of knowledge and experience.” All of us believe in a fashion which is slow, lasting and respectful of people and environment. All the people in the team keep the best attention to produce your favorite items”.
M Square
"Clothes for Life"... easy but interesting, the details novel, and the fabrics, ones that you can live in! Created by a woman, for a woman, in a company run by women. M Square was created to fill a gap for the woman who does not have a Hollywood body but would like to wear updated and sophisticated clothing. Fashion is what you buy, and style is what you create. Highlighting special fabrics and textures and making them into architectural shapes has given M Square the ability to take the word fashion to the next level of comfort.
Neeru Kumar
In the world of handcrafted textiles, Neeru Kumar is a rare and inspired talent, who has, over the past three decades, pioneered something of a revolution in Indian textiles. Using traditional techniques and indigenous materials, but with constant experimentation and research, Neeru has created a whole new vocabulary in textile design.
The combination of her unique sensibility, especially in tone and texture, with her profound knowledge of the weaving process and other textile techniques, as well as her commitment to support the craft sector has made such innovation possible.
Through her prodigious output she has generated an exciting and original, extremely contemporary, design palette, while at the same time pushing forward the frontiers of the traditional skills on which her work is based.
Nimbu
Tradition and innovation, ancient and contemporary, east and west, Nimbu was born from this blend in 2003 from an idea of Uberto and Susanna Spaghi and their love for the East and fabrics. Their relationship with India was initiated by Uberto, who in the 70s and 80s explored Indian textile skills and culture, and established relationships of friendship and trust with the suppliers with whom his daughter Susanna continues to work today.
Nimbu began as a line of accessories, and then expanded to become a complete collection. The centuries-old block printing, hand spinning, weaving, and tie-dyeing are just some of the incredible techniques used in the collection. Nimbu is fresh and elegant, simple in lines but rich in rare fabrics and precious embroideries. Nimbu garments are mostly woven, printed and embroidered by hand.
91 Lab
91LAB is an Ukraine-based emerging womenswear knitwear brand founded in 2018. Their knitwear production is one of the most technologically sophisticated and advanced in the fashion industry
Each collection includes unique jacquards, sophisticated designs and hand-made pieces – all in carefully selected fine yarns.
91LAB embodies ultimate quality, feminine silhouettes and grown-up sensuality
Omelia
OMELIA is a Ukrainian redesign brand from Kyiv, created in 2020. Their mission is to show beauty in its diversity. The projects produced by OMELIA are aimed at increasing the level of tolerance and acceptance among the audience. They do not divide people by appearance, gender or race. OMELIA recycles vintage and stock shirts. In this way they do not pollute the planet with overproduction waste and give clothes a second life.
Paper Temples
A decades long dream to build an ethical and accountable apparel brand that merges art & design. Paper Temples was born out of the pandemic and the need to create jobs for out of work local seamstresses and knitters in Saint Louis, MO. They were able to build a strong team with the goal of curating clothing that makes an individual feel like an individual. Our mission is to be as renewable, conscientious, and chic as possible.
Pin 1876
Giuseppe botto poala, affectionately nicknamed "pin" by his family, established a cashmere mill in 1876 in Valle Mosso in the province of Biella. Skill, craftsmanship and research all converge in the Pin1876" collection, which offers its own take on contemporary sustainable life through the certainty of an authentic and inimitable heritage. Pin1876 is the demonstration that, starting from a simple thread, you can experience unique stories that have “Made in Italy” as a protagonist, the highest expression of a country where the culture of work blends with an innate sense of beauty, harmony and absolute perfection.
PLEATS PLEASE by ISSEY MIYAKE
A collection of clothes that are a product in themselves, made with a unique "garment pleating" technique where the materials are developed from a single thread and pleats are added after sewing the clothes into shape. Garments are sandwiched between two layers of washi paper, then fed into a heat-press. The pleats remain permanently in the fabric’s “memory”. PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE is the perfect, elegant, yet practical solution for the needs of a modern person, translating effortlessly from work to play to suit their diverse needs.
PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE have developed their own sizing standard which does not translate to traditional sizing charts. The garments by PLEATS PLEASE follow a sizing standard within the length of the garment only and do not differ in width. The reasoning behind this standard is due to the amount of fabric which is used prior to the garment becoming pleated. Therefore only the length differs between sizes with a pitch of 2.5-3cm between each size. Made in Japan
Porto
Headquartered in San Francisco's design district, Porto is a women's luxury apparel brand that is locally designed and manufactured. Wonderful stretch fabrics are brought in from Italy, France and Japan, then tailored into effortless chic pieces that take their customers from day to evening. Philosophy: "Made in San Francisco, designed to travel the world".
Prairie Underground
Made in Seattle and created with sustainable materials like organic cotton, hemp, repreve, and tencel, Prairie Underground is committed to designing modern uniforms that evoke sensuality in daily self-expression. Most garments are industrially dyed in Los Angeles using tertiary recycled water and fiber reactive dyes, the most environmentally-conscious large volume dye process to date. Mixing feminine silhouettes with utilitarian details that are timeless yet updated with a modern twist, "We resist the carelessness of fast fashion and the concept of disposable apparel that causes a profuse amount of pollution and waste. Our clothing is constructed to withstand the duties of an active lifestyle with nobility that makes them worthy of preservation or handed off to a second user”. Made in the U.S.A
Rebecca Brenner
Rebecca Brenner is a 1984 graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with an MFA in jewelry design. She is currently making fine jewelry in 14k and 18k gold using unique and precious gemstones. Rebecca’s designs celebrate color and the harmonious interplay of hues found in nature. She sources stones of unconventional shapes to create her one-of-a-kind pieces, including earrings, necklaces and baubles. With a commitment to timelessness, her work exudes individuality reflecting her artistic vision and commitment to craftsmanship.
UQNATU
UQNATU (ook-NAH-too) a denim-inspired garment collection designed in Brooklyn, produced in Queens by Laura Foos. The material: substantial, forthright, unpretentious. The cut: comfortable, versatile, elegant. The style: simple, classic, clean, ccessible, durable, purposeful.
Foos hails from a small Ohio farm, where she learned traditional domestic arts: sewing, embroidery and quilting. As a teenager, she represented Sandusky County at the Ohio State Fair. After college,
Foos worked at the Museum of Modern Art and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Inspired by pure form, design and function, Foos pursued pattern-making studies, and apprenticed with (or worked for) Isabel Toledo, Hussein Chalayan, Dries Van Noten and John Bartlett. Later Foos designed several categories for women and men at the Gap, often using utilitarian cotton fabrics.
Yavi
Yavi is a designer clothing and accessories brand that combines Indian craftsmanship with Western silhouettes to create unique, sophisticated, and sustainable pieces Yavi uses traditional hand-painting and handcrafting techniques to create impressionist details on traditional weaves.
Yoshi Kondo
After gaining experience in the role of assistant to the designer Issey Miyake in Japan, Yoshihisa (Yoshi) Kondo moved to Paris, France. There, Yoshi founded his eponymous high end women’s wear brand in 1993. Catering to a contemporary and fashion forward market and showcasing his own personal style with each collection. Yoshi continues to exhibit his collections in New York and Paris.
Zkano
Made in America: We are passionate about making our socks here in Fort Payne, Alabama and we also care deeply about where our raw materials come from. Our organic cotton is grown, spun and dyed in the U.S. and we know who we’re working with every step of the way. Our cotton farmers and yarn spinners are kind, hard-working people in West Texas and North Carolina — which means our socks are born and bred in the South. Partnering with folks right here at home allows us to ensure our socks are some of the most comfortable, durable, and environmentally friendly socks around
Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, just west of the Little River Canyon, you’ll find Fort Payne, Alabama — the former “Sock Capital of the World.” The once-booming hosiery industry of Fort Payne was hit hard in the early 2000s when most textile manufacturing moved off-shore. At zkano, we are honored to continue Fort Payne's rich sock making tradition at our family mill.