Playing dress up is still and will forever be one of my favorite things to do.  Dressing is a transformational experience. On any given day you choose who you want to be, and how you want to feel.

The essence of beauty is captured by quality - beautiful things made well with a lot of love, things that look good and FEEL good.  The quality of feeling is one of the many reasons I’m totally in love with the new collection by Vaunt & Sol, Vaunt & Sol x Monica Canilao.

Presented by Launch NYC’s incubator runway show, Vaunt & Sol’s collection sparked my day with beauty, love and inspiration.  With bright colors, teal complemented by deep reds and oranges, the collection was sexy and playful.  Funky yet feminine, the pieces luxuriously flow in motion.  They are wearable works of art, yet super practical, and incredibly comfortable.

“Inspired by the fire & rust of a city in motion, the fabrications focus on sumptuous organic textiles that fluidly flow between uptown, downtown and playground.”  Vaunt & Sol create intentionally with considerable care for people and planet by using sustainable fabrics, making the clothes feel even nicer to buy and wear.  Luscious, super soft and sexy fabrics that are good for the planet feel really good to me!

At the forefront of a movement to create a more sustainable fashion industry, Vaunt & Sol were presented at NYFW F/W 2014 by Manufacture New York’s LAUNCH NYC, an incubator runway show, setting the stage for the future of fashion and conscious business.  With their mission to “reawaken and rebuild America’s fashion industry, foster the next wave of businesses, and create a transparent, sustainable global supply chain,” Manufacture New York created LAUNCH NYC.

LAUNCH NYC is “a phenomenal 8 day experience that takes New York Fashion Week to a whole new level. With over 5,000 sq. ft. of ground floor level storefront space, our diverse + experienced team of fashion professionals and event planners will use their production experience to take your NYFW presentation to the next level….

LAUNCH NYC combines a state-of-the-art runway with luxurious retail and showroom space. Designers can show their latest collection on the runway, under the best lighting and sound conditions, to fashion’s top press, wholesale buyers, loyal customers and VIPs. At the same time, designers can present sales samples of their latest FW14 collection in the adjacent showroom for buyers + press to view privately by appointment. Finally, in the retail store, designers can sell their collection of clothes, accessories and jewelry to the public directly after the runway show and throughout Fashion Week.

This is a model for the future that not only makes sense from a marketing and branding point of view, but also from an economic standpoint. LAUNCH NYC is a completely innovative, integrated New York Fashion Week experience that is sustainable for designers and the fashion industry as a whole.”

We continue to see more and more emerging designers, makers, and business models committed to a new more sustainable, sexier way of creating, marketing and selling.  This next wave inspires the future of beauty, dressing and feeling great.  Together, Vaunt & Sol with LAUNCH NYC create the feeling of living bright and beautiful.

Q+A with Najva…

What is the philosophy behind Vaunt & Sol?  

The cornerstone of our philosophy is three-fold: functional beauty, wearable art, responsible design. We believe leisure is luxury.

How do you describe the Vaunt & Sol aesthetic?  
We’ve attempted to combine the grandeur of our European & Persian heritage with our modern needs. The bottom line is to make clothes that are soft, urbane & beautiful. A modern women moves, and our designs move with her. We focus on draped silhouettes, and collaborate with an artist every season to create unique, limited edition prints.

What does sustainability mean to you?  In life?  In fashion? 

For us, sustainability is a multi-tiered practice.

1. Interaction: Vaunt & Sol is built on a 10-year friendship and sustaining that means respect, communication and according the other person the value they deserve as a person.

2. Design: From the first pattern to the business plan- every aspect is designed with the future in mind. We question every detail- it’s exhausting, but worth it!

3. Service: We’re working hard at the moment to create a free service called Love Not Landfills to mend minor rips in our pieces, and are in talks to collaborate with non-profits aimed at empowering creative women around the world. Giving back, either to our customer or beyond, is integral to our plan.

How do you see the future of the fashion industry evolving?
Consumer awareness is the next big thing- we all need to dictate the world we’d like to live in. When you buy Vaunt & Sol, you’re directly supporting the arts, skilled artisans, the environment, fair trade, responsible design, and quality. We’d love to see more items made locally (no matter where in the US or world that might be), more accessibility via the web to manufacturers and sample makers, and for textile mills in the US to make a comeback.

Oh, and womenswear that doesn’t constrict women. I mean, what century are we living in?

What are some of the ways you hope a woman (or man) may feel when wearing Vaunt & Sol?

That feeling where a stranger says “I love your outfit!”  and you talk about the featured artist, the eco friendly ethics, and that it’s some new exciting brand but you don’t tell them it’s easier to wear than your pajamas. Because it’s your secret. #secretpajamas #fashionwin

See recent article in WSJ here