When it came to designing Maiyet’s 2017 Resort collection, Declan Kearney did the smart thing: He went to the store, and he talked to his customers. “I’ve been doing a lot of client fittings,” said Kearney, who has now been at the helm of the company for little more than a year, “ones that were meant to be an hour, and then ran on to two, because we were having so much fun.” Which isn’t to say that he wasn’t learning a fair amount at the same time, like that women found the curved hem of his arc skirt to be universally flattering (“more relaxed than a pencil skirt, with a slimming line, and great movement,” quoth Kearney) and that generous, slouchy leather bags should have flexibility enough to roll at the top to become subway-snatcher averse. Fil coupe slip dresses and one floor-sweeping gown are holdover hits from Spring, thanks to one boldface fan—“we call this the Rihanna dress,” said Kearney, holding up a figure-skimming slip in black, which the star had worn in bronze for a Super Bowl commercial, among other appearances.
The inspiration for much of this collection—like split-sleeved white shirting with a pearl-studded collar; a series of tiered, gently ruffled frocks in shades of lilac and sea foam; and a pair of prints (a woodblock prickly pear and a polka dot)—all came from an unlikely blend of sources: Philip Johnson’s architecture; the portraiture and patterns of 1950s photographer Seydou Keïta; Princess Diana, “the early years”; and the enviable insouciance of one Wiz Khalifa. “He’s not afraid of prints, he’s really bold in his choices, and he just throws amazing things together,” said Kearney, “he just has a really modern way of dressing, and really doesn’t seem to give a shit.” Even those with lesser sartorial aspirations than the Wiz would find the fine-gauge Fair Mongolian Cashmere ponchos decidedly hard to resist. Of Maiyet’s famously ethical sourcing, Kearney said, “the artisan partners are all throughout this collection,” and held up an undeniably cute crocheted bikini made in Bolivia. He also noted that, with the typical American codes he’s delicately twisted (jeans and a white shirt, for example), or the multiple types of embroidery employed on a single piece, the intended effect was a seamless blend of methodology and influences, inspiration and technique—or what Kearney called, with a wink, “the full Wiz Khalifa.”
