Alix Of Bohemia Channels 1970s Hawaii With Its Craft-Led Pre-Fall 2024 Collection
This season, the artisanal American label invites you to step into summer with its hand-printed, bohemian pieces
If ever you wanted proof that a more mindful approach to fashion doesn’t have to feel somber or earnest, you need only immerse yourself in the dreamscapes of Alix of Bohemia. Glance across the US-based label’s latest pre-fall collection – or any collection for that matter – and you’ll be greeted by an abundance of color, texture, print and personality. Intricate details are abound, too: light-catching sequins sit alongside crochet, embroidery and block prints next to broderie anglaise. And underpinning it all is a steadfast commitment to traditional techniques that might look to the past but is designed for the future.
“Silhouettes are breezy, patterns are plentiful and color palettes are wistful, while sources of inspiration span Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’ Keeffe and Jane Birkin on the Riviera
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Alix of Bohemia sits at the crest of a wave of independent, craft-forward labels that proudly wear the clothes-making process on their sleeve. Founded by Alix Verley-Pietrafesa, who fell in love with sewing while studying art history in Scotland, the brand works closely with artisans, sources one-of-a-kind textiles and appliqués from across the world, and uses hand-embroidery, hand-weaving and hand-printing techniques – which is to say no two blouses or pairs of pants are quite alike. There’s a level of intimacy to each of Verly-Pietrafesa’s designs too – a jacket named in honor of her husband; a dress she’s spent hours hand-stitching herself. Its aesthetic, meanwhile, is countercultural, nomadic and bohemian (as the name would suggest). Silhouettes are breezy, patterns are plentiful and color palettes are wistful, while sources of inspiration span Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’ Keeffe and Jane Birkin on the Riviera.
For Alix of Bohemia’s pre-fall collection, Verley-Pietrafesa landed on 1970s midsummer Hawaii. On this season’s mood board? Vintage postcards and images of hula dancers, old kimonos and her grandmother in Maui. These vignettes are brought to life with floral-print cotton flared pants, paisley shirts in linen-voile and poet blouses with billowing sleeves. Meanwhile, the recurring ‘floating flower’ print is inspired by floating leis and flowers in the Pacific Ocean – and rendered by hand.
As always, a slower, more conscious clothes-making ethos is at the heart of it all. That means not only using exclusively natural fibers such as cotton voile, linen, hand-loomed silk and Tencel, but also rethinking less sustainable practices that might be the norm. Take, for example, the exquisite sequin pieces in the collection that are designed to evoke bioluminescence and the shimmer of sea life. Here, ocean-polluting plastic has been eschewed in favor of metal which beautifully reflects light.
“Underpinning it all is a steadfast commitment to traditional techniques that might look to the past but is designed for the future
”
Beyond its impressive conscious craftsmanship and attention to detail, Alix of Bohemia’s pre-fall 2024 collection perfectly encapsulates the joy and freedom of high summer. The underlying idea is that the collection is “vacation ready”; a suite of beachy pieces that can be thrown into a suitcase, and mixed and matched with abandon alongside slicked hair and shell necklaces. However, with such a haute level of craftsmanship, there’s little question that these are the sort of rare treasures that deserve to be seen well beyond a season. Rather, Verley-Pietrafesa hopes that they’ll be infused with memories of summer adventures and then passed down through generations to come.