OUR STORY
1990s
My work in fashion started in New York City in the 90s as an assistant – first to a well-known Costume Designer (Mona May), then to the owner of New York's biggest fashion trade shows (Elyse Kroll of ENK).
When I was hired as an assistant to a French movie star (Isabelle Adjani) and moved to Paris, fashion became a language that I learned and loved to speak. From major fashion houses to movie sets, amazing clothes became part of my everyday scene.
2002
In 2002, Daryl was starting his photography career and we spent a couple months in Morocco to shoot our first fashion book — I styled it with mix of vintage finds, luxury pieces gifted to me in Paris and streetwear from a trip to Japan. It was a seminal project and we realized the narrative power of juxtaposing cultures through textiles and film.
2003
In 2003, I became the lead costume designer for a French TV series.
It was a huge job and I loved it. We shot 8 episodes concurrently with 8 main characters and I loved the aspect of developing characters through wardrobe.
2004 - 2008
In 2004, we moved to Dubai in the days when Dubai was defining itself on the global stage - we built sets for luxury hotels and restaurants when there were still so few that existed. We often shot 4 or 5 versions of commercials to cover the nuances of wardrobe from each region and I became a specialist in making sure every detail of wardrobe was aspirational and accurate for thy myriad cultural differences across the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf.
For these huge projects, I worked with an exceptional team of tailors originally from Varanasi, India. Their knowledge was a major influence and I began designing contemporary kanduras (traditional Islamic menswear) with luxury fabrics and handcrafted detail. My first collection, Urban Arab Design, debuted at Art Dubai and our campaign was featured in Vanity Fair.
2009 - 2014
In 2009, we moved to Mumbai. India changes everything.
Our work as photographer/stylist took us all over India and across the region - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal.
I started to understand the depth of exquisite handcraft in South Asian cultures. Histories of families, communities, regions; the riches of empires and Gandhi’s movement for Independence — all stories held in handloom textile and jewellery designs, made as heirlooms to be handed down through generations.
2022
My love for textiles and design as a language played a central role as I became a film director, making culture films all over the world for commercial clients such as Christie’s, Condé Nast and The New York Times.
In 2022, we made a film in Ethiopia about women skateboarders, and shot some of the most compelling scenes of my career as they skated through the streets of Addis Ababa in traditional handwoven white dresses. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2023, and I designed my dress for the opening with handspun silk and cotton (Hartwick Atelier’s Tribeca Skirt and Jodhpur Blouse).
2023
While researching our next film, on the subject of handwoven cloth, we spoke to monks and physicists about weaving as vibration and to curators and anthropologists about cloth as the basis of human civilization.
Captivated by the historical significance, sustainable techniques and exquisite feel of handloom fabrics, we put the film on ice and made a full women’s collection instead.
2024
Et voilà .
It has been a long and spectacular road to creating Hartwick Atelier, a truly sustainable fashion brand made by masters of refined handcraft.
Finely tailored with handspun and handwoven fabrics, using heritage techniques and natural dyes in tune with the rhythms of the sun, wind and rain, I can truly say this is an analogue love story that I am delighted and honoured to share with the world.
Our work and travels take us far and wide. We are curious and adventurous and never stop learning. I often buy local artisanal fabric and heritage/vintage pieces and over the years we’ve curated a beautiful collection of art, ephemera and imagery from cultures around the world.
These rich influences are the fabric of my being, the way I see the world and all of us in it.
Our experiences as travellers and filmmakers, homesteaders and designers inform everything we make. We are lovers of humanity, the planet, and all beings within and without.
