We love to travel. Traveling not only transports us to a different physical place, but also a different mental and creative space, where we open up and allow all the inspiration to flow in. Throughout the years, our gift and clothing collections have been inspired by amazing trips to India, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Morocco, and Greece, to name a few. This year, we were inspired by a place a little closer to home: the Southern California Coast.
In Spring 2018, our company owner and our head of design went on a quick sourcing trip to Peru. As on most design trips, our head of design Katie Shillinglaw shot tons of photos of flowers, gardens, architecture, textiles, jewelry, and museum pieces to provide source material for our Spring 2019 collection.
Soon after, Katie went on a road trip with her son to tour colleges, driving all along the coast on Highway 1, a.k.a. the Pacific Coast Highway, passing through beautiful, upscale, beachfront towns like Santa Barbara, Malibu, and La Jolla. She realized that we had been in the habit of drawing design inspiration from countries all around the world, but we had yet to draw conscious inspiration from our own home.
Spring 2019 at rockflowerpaper is a love letter to that sunny, relaxed, So Cal lifestyle, where your favorite pieces are comfortable, easy to throw on, and breezy. Think palm trees, boardwalks, surfer girls, sunsets on the beach, warm waves, and sandy dunes.
Compared to past collections, many of our prints for Spring 2019 are cleaner, less complicated, and more modern. While our special Hydra capsule collection is inspired by the ease and sophistication of the Greek island Hydra, Katie’s coastal California road trip inevitably informed her Hydra designs as well. She had the opportunity to draw inspiration from the people who wear our line, whether lounging at a beach club in Pacific Palisades or sun bathing in the Maldives.
Kamini Woven Stripe Scarf in Tan - NEW style!
After coming home, Katie will pull photography from her trip, as well as trends from online and magazine research, and start creating the artwork for our fabrics with either watercolor or hand-carved stamps. Her art folder is really fun to dig around in.
People often ask us where we get our fabrics. The answer is: we create them!
This season is full of fresh, new products in clothing, scarves, tote bags, and home accessories. This was just a tiny peek into where it all began. Explore our Spring 19 line ... and stay tuned, because there's more to come!
Our head of design is multi-talented! Katie cartwheeling on the sand.
