Spring is upon us (finally!), which means, amongst many other things, that I must begin dissecting what it is I will be creating for my Spring 2008 collection. Though I do have a few planned surprises up my sleeves- the first and best, is that I will be collaborating for the first time with jewelry designer Arlene Guerra. Her line is called PYT (Pretty Young Thing…you know, the PYTs of Michael Jackson fame) and you can see her work here She always seems to be in Teen Vogue and she’s also made quite a name for herself in Japan, where they love her…Arlene has done styling for me in the past, she worked on my first two photo shoots ever- lending me her most spectacular eye. She really can transform a look with just a twist here and a bright something or other there…so I feel very lucky that we’re going to work together on this new series of dresses. she’s going to come down to visit me sometime in June and I’m really excited to see her reaction to the colors, smells, music and people here. You know her parents are from Mexico…and she has never been here!! so imagine the fun we’ll have.

And so for this series of new Spring pieces, I will also (and finally!!) begin to work with indigenous embroidery and weaving collectives. I’ve been living in Mexico for about a year now, and its not easy finding these women! Their pueblos are forgotten for the big cities, hidden behind mountain ranges and twisting with rural dirt roads that can go on for miles which are literally not on the maps! But when you eventually find them, it is a gift from the gods, as the hand work you find, which is quickly giving into extinction, is worth every flat tire and hour being lost imaginable. So my plan beginning with the Spring 2008 Collection is to begin working with these different indigenous communities, as a platform to display their beautiful stunning work.

above are some photos of beautiful women representing different parts of mexico