Since its creation in 2006, directional label twenty-seven names has inspired a cult-like following. With art and fashion degree backgrounds respectively, designers Rachel Easting and Anjali Stewart cite contemporary art as the basis for their collections. Their label is ever-migrating and can be found in stores across New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

www.twentysevennames.co.nz

twenty-seven names 'i thought you'd never ask' Winter 2013

twenty-seven names’ winter 2013 collection — ‘i thought you’d never ask’ — emerged from the first line of Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot: 'To start with, look at all the books.'

Taking this advice, designers Anjali Stewart and Rachel Easting returned to their sixth-form reading list and revisited the works of the great female novelists of the nineteenth century for inspiration: Jane Austen, George Eliot and the Brontë sisters. In the collection 19th-century detailing and hand-printed silk sit alongside bright multi-colours and polka dots.

Inspired by the portraiture of artists such as Gillian Wearing, Cindy Sherman and Rineke Dijkstra, the pair created a short film to launch their collection — along with signature campaign portraits and Easting’s hand-drawn illustrations. ‘i thought you’d never ask’ plays with the idea that the ‘marriage plot’ still remains a central theme in our favorite stories, something the poet laureate of Easting and Stewart’s hearts — Beyonce — might have something to say about.