AGUA BY AGUA BENDITA DRESS, goop, $440
3 Wanderlust-Inspiring Designers
We have a weakness for clothing that can transport us elsewhere. The kind that makes us feel like we’re breathing in salty ocean air, eating an arepa streetside, or strolling through a buzzing, brightly colored bazaar—even if we’re just sitting at our desk. These are the three brands doing it best, through voluminous sleeving, punchy patterning, and silky weaving that we want to live in.
NACKIYÉ
Turkish sisters Basak and Defne Kocabiyikoglu grew up in quaint seaside towns where local clothing was flowy and blissfully informal. The duo marries this sensibility with a dose of modern elegance in their line of balloon-sleeve tops, robe-style dresses, and kimono pants. Better still, they source only the finest materials from around the world. Their gemlike buttons come from Germany; their belt buckles, from a family of Northern Italian craftsmen; and their fabric, from the Eastern Mediterranean. Finished at NACKIYÉ’s atelier in Istanbul, each piece is meant to move with you during a dream off-duty day—from tea on the terrace to a splash in the sea to dinner at a local tavern.
ON MODEL, from top to bottom:
NACKIYÉ odalique dress, goop, $690;
NACKIYÉ ARTEMISIA DRESS, goop, $690;
NACKIYÉ MILKPUDDING MAXIDRESS, goop, $667
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We name all our products after fond memories of our childhood, be that a destination (like Patmos, our holiday pad, or Grand Bazaar, our favorite spot in Istanbul), a favorite childhood taste (Milkpudding, an amazing Ottoman dessert topped with rose water), or a dreamy sight (Lilypond, the most wonderful feature of Istanbul gardens).
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We name all our products after fond memories of our childhood, be that a destination (like Patmos, our holiday pad, or Grand Bazaar, our favorite spot in Istanbul), a favorite childhood taste (Milkpudding, an amazing Ottoman dessert topped with rose water), or a dreamy sight (Lilypond, the most wonderful feature of Istanbul gardens).
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AGUA BY AGUA BENDITA
It all started when two fashion-school friends, Catalina Álvarez and Mariana Hinestroza, began making patchwork bikinis using Álvarez’s grandmother’s sewing machine and fabric scraps from her father’s factory. Nearly two decades later, the Medellín-based duo has grown their humble operation into a full-fledged luxury label specializing in swimwear, yes, but also dresses, sets, and beachwear. They employ a network of female Colombian artisans who develop prints in-house, sew fabrics, and embellish garments, all while working from home. Each collection is a celebration of a different aspect of Álvarez and Hinestroza’s culture, and they travel throughout Latin America for research and development. For spring/summer 2022, they chose musical genres as their muse—son cubano, bolero, salsa, and bossa nova—and booked flights accordingly.
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We visited Cuba, Colombia, Panama, and Brazil, absorbing flora and fauna, iconic architecture, and the mood of each of these countries to create a diverse, colorful, and authentic collection that tells a unique story of ourselves and our culture.
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NATALIE MARTIN
Australian designer Natalie Martin traces the inspiration for her eponymous label back to the Bali trips of her youth. It’s there that she was exposed to traditional batik printing: a labor-intensive, resist-dyeing process that makes her line of caftans, kurtas, and cover-ups so exquisite. Look closely and you might notice irregularities in the vibrant floral prints—they’re a testament to the artisanal nature of each garment. “There are so many hands touching these pieces from beginning to end,” Martin told us in an interview a couple years back. “That’s what makes them so special.” While the airy silhouettes fit right in at any beach town, they’re easily citified with white sneakers and a light knit draped around your shoulders.
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I remember the first time I worked on a print in Bali with a man named Ketut. He had a cigarette in one hand and a batik stamp in the other—and there were geckos crawling all over the fabric. It was a little wild, but there’s this flow between man and nature in Bali where it all just comes together and turns into something beautiful.
—martin
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