Over the past few months, Starr Hout and Laura Cramer have been sharing Apiece Apart’s Instagram with 20 inspiring women around the world: artists, teachers, nurses, friends. Each one staged a “takeover” on the brand’s Instagram Stories, where they shared their day-to-day routines and glimpses of what their lives look like now. The project was meant to spotlight real women’s experiences in these uncertain times and bring a sense of unfiltered humanity to what can be an exceedingly artificial online experience.
None of that has much to do with Hout and Cramer’s resort collection, but it speaks directly to their approach as designers: They strive to understand what their customers truly need and communicate with them directly—often on Instagram. They want to bring comfort and ease to women’s lives, especially now; suffice it to say Apiece Apart isn’t where you should look for fantastical, “escapist” fashion, unless your idea of escape involves a road trip wrapped in cotton-cashmere sweats.
Non-sloppy sweats were already a strong category for Apiece Apart, so it wasn’t surprising to hear that sales of their puffed-sleeve pullovers and woven joggers were way up in March and April. Looking ahead to January, when this collection will ship, the designers said they found it difficult to predict what their women will need. Will we still be in lockdown in the early days of 2021, or will our lives have resumed their “normal” cadence? It all hinges on vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, of course. Regardless, there’s a good chance we’ll still be spending a lot of time at home, particularly those of us in cities with harsh winters—and, 10 months in, our sweats will probably be in need of an upgrade. Hout and Cramer expanded their range accordingly with new head-to-toe knit sweats, as seen in the opening look, which combines an ivory cotton pointelle cardigan and joggers with another pullover cinched around the waist. A navy sweatshirt and joggers came in a loftier cotton-cashmere blend, and they reintroduced their signature cotton-jersey sweats in warm, natural shades of clay and camel. Other looks mirrored Cramer’s own tendencies to mix sweats with “real clothes,” like a striped blouse tucked into knit pants or a sweatshirt layered over a breezy floral dress. They balanced our new obsession with comfort with a latent desire to dress with a sense of occasion—even if that occasion is just a low-key dinner outside.
Most importantly, Hout and Cramer hope the collection can instill a feeling of calm in an increasingly “wild world.” It’s fitting that they shot the look book at a dharma center in upstate New York; it completed their vision of staying centered, reconnecting with nature, and achieving zen, whether that’s through a weeklong meditation retreat or simply finding great, comfortable clothes to live in and forget about.
