September 18, 2019 Inspiration
Fall Winter 2019 Story
Around the studio we’ve been calling our FW19 collection MINNA Grows Up. That’s one way of putting it. I think the other way of putting it is that I finally slowed down.
By Sara Berks
A highlight from our Fall Winter 2019 lookbook.
I spent the better part of last year revisiting my art practice - making things for the sake of making. Painting, drawing, weaving. This revisiting gave me time and space to work things out before I even started designing our Fall Winter collection.
My watercolor paintings inspired by Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa, Peru.
Last Fall I spent two weeks traveling throughout Peru meeting and spending time with the people who would become our new artisan partners and production coordinators there. Usually, production trips are overscheduled, but I made sure there was time to explore. I was inspired by the landscapes there, the new materials, the colors, the history, and the artistry and craftsmanship like none other I'd seen, let alone had the privilege to work with.
Ruins in the Sacred Valley inspired paintings which eventually inspired the Canyon pillows.
Stacks rug weaving process
Once I sat down to finally design, all I had to do was pick out the moments from my paintings, the colors from the landscapes, and the textures from the things I saw and felt. It was all in front of me, waiting. The natural dyes pulled from landscapes, the textures from Huaca Pucllana, the shapes of Santa Catalina Monastery, the feeling of the thin air in Cusco, the warm colors everywhere.
The texture of the ruins at Huaca Pucllana in Lima inspired the textures that lead to our Sheila and Angle pillows.
The warm colors of Cusco inspired the natural dye colors we selected for many of our new FW19 pieces.
This collection feels truest to my roots as both a designer and as an artist - truest to the image I've always had in my head for MINNA. This collection has the strongest visual continuity of any collection we've made, and I think that's not just because of a shift in process. Our team has grown, our business values have solidified, and we're building strong partnerships with five new artisan groups in Peru. Together, we've all stretched and grown to get this collection out into the world. We hope you love it as much as we do.
