“How can you live a more sustainable life without getting stressed about it?” is the question at the heart of Maria McManus’s design philosophy. It’s also what drives her to experiment and search for innovative materials. “This is the first shirt we ever did and it’s a basic cotton, it’s 50 singles,” she says showing me the shirt she’s currently wearing. (In ring-spun cotton, the higher the single, the finer the yarn, and the softer the garment.) “But now we can get 120 singles, which is like a cotton poplin sateen. We’re just able to get much finer staples; so that’s been very exciting.” There’s also an organic cotton mixed with 30% nylon (“not the most sustainable, it takes about 50 years to biodegrade, but it’s better than polyester, that can take 500 to 1,000 years”), a new organic cotton high-twist Japanese twill for suits (“it’s so hard to find suiting material that isn’t wool”), and buttons made from a material called urea; a by-product of potato — yes potato — starch.
Of course none of this would matter if the clothes she made weren’t so desirable. Like the tulip skirt with a wide elastic waistband with a little kick pleat on the side made of organic cotton velour in black or cream with contrasting seam details at the side (McManus was already wearing the black version at our appointment). Knit dresses and tanks made from a recycled cashmere cotton blend felt soft as air; one came in lemon yellow with teardrop-shaped cut-outs at the shoulder and back (“I definitely shed a few tears this year,” she said, referencing United States politics), and another in cream with navy stripes at the bust and lemon yellow color-blocked sleeves. They’re exactly the kind of cool thing women of all ages will want to wear; same goes for an organic cotton black crochet tank dress that was dripping with an earthy sort of sex appeal (a good thing!), worn with pleated black trousers. “We do do a great pant,” McManus said, before adding that she works with Katayone Adeli’s old patternmaker (IYKYK!).
McManus titled the offering “The Clean Lines of Collection,” an allusion to recent conversations she’d had with friends about the value of influencing one another into making better environmental decisions. “There’s this woman, her name is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, and she has this theory whereby one American will have a 0.0000000003% impact on the environment if they live a carbon-neutral life. So it’s nothing. But if you take one person and they influence three, and then those three influence three…” she trails off. “That’s sort of how we’ve been talking about this collection, and the meaning behind what we’re trying to do as a company, to build that community.” So now you know, tell a friend.
For all the latest fasion News Click Here
