A 111-song playlist accompanies Lauren Manoogian’s new resort collection. It spans Dev Hynes to Philip Glass, with playful diversions into Paulinho da Viola and HNNY along the way. Manoogian and her partner, Chris Fireoved, believe their soundtracks help retailers and the press to understand the vibe of their collections—and vibey-ness is key.
Without the vibes, you might fall into the worst trap in describing Manoogian’s work, calling it a “beige knitwear collection.” Eek! Manoogian spends months fine-tuning every knit and purl on a piece, and weeks perfecting the names for her colors. It’s not beige—it’s clay. A muddy, almost violet brown is umber, and a warm oatmeal hue is dust. She actually ventured the risk of calling a pale ivory-greenish shade moth, even as her colleagues deemed it too controversial for a company whose main material is wool.
Manoogian traveled to Peru to work with her knitters on this collection. The trip resulted in some of her most abstract pieces to date. A fluffy baby alpaca caftan that looks like a wrap is actually her interpretation of a “blown-up cable-knit,” the wearer swaddled inside the stitch. A three-sleeve sweater she’s worked on “for years” has finally been perfected in an alpaca-wool blend—color options include sagebrush and dusk. A one-shoulder jumpsuit in brushed linen can be folded down to create a trapezoidal waistband on trousers. In their specificity, these might not seem like traditionally easy garments to wear—but that’s an exciting problem for a knitwear brand to have, isn’t it? When everything is thin-ribbed, slouchy, and cozy, a sweater that challenges your perception of what a sweater can be will stand apart in the market and in people’s closets.
