Staten Island is an often overlooked New York City borough that seems to be brimming with unexpected treasures. Leave it to the curious eye of Mara Hoffman to discover some baroque interiors there and use them for a close-to-home getaway location for her pre-fall look book. The collection offers straightforward but charming propositions for summer dressing based, she said, on what customers like and want. As she spends a lot of time in her art- and plant-filled Soho boutique, she’s not just guessing what those are.
“It’s sexy. It’s joyful. It’s summertime,” Hoffman said as she presented the lineup. Popcorn pieces, which accommodate a large range of sizes, predominate here and there’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the variety of them. How to choose among a stretchy color-blocked sheath in popsicle colors, a mini siren dress in cinnamon hotshot red, or a date-night LBD? Even cheekier is a white number with floral “pasties.”
When it comes to bathing suits (another strong category for the brand), the emphasis is on a lot of leg; cuts venture above the hip bone. A series of neat hemp-pieces, including a requisite dress with cut-outs, are destined for some cool customers indeed.
