Continuing to define our brand promise

The crux is one of our favorite things. The Starkweather layering system is literally centered around it. And it has become an accessory we can't live without during most months of the year. And it's getting better with age. 

We started with the premium. The most luxe interior cashmere lining we could find. And we swear by the coziness of that T-Crux original. And it's body-temp boosting powers. But the truth is we want to spread the joy. We want for more people to have access to this item of clothing that has transformed one wardrobe at a time since it's first appearance on the streets, November 2014.

So we dove back into fabric research. Feeling for the softest textiles that could counter the cashmere richness without the premium price tag. We looked from Italy, France, Japan, England, Peru..the list goes on...And we finally found it, in this awesomely textured cotton knit melange. Produced in Italy, this 100% cotton textile feels like your most loved and well worn sweatshirt with the look and longevity of a designer item. 

Isn't that what you're looking for in your closet every morning?

So what does all of this mean for you? 

The development of this crux in the new fabrics was a challenge for us in keeping with our brand promise. We will deliver best in class products that combine function and style to change the way we live and dress in relation to the weather. 

That also means that we're listening to you and to your needs. And over the last six months, meeting so many of you at our trunk shows has helped us prioritize our new product direction and how to expand on those pieces, like the T and Shawl Crux, that quickly stood out as brand-defining items. 

The crux of it

We love the crux, and we love how it makes people feel and the beautiful way it frames smiling faces. We love that it so completely embodies the promise of the Starkweather brand. And we love that moment of discovery when you pull it on and say "Ahh. I get it."

We hope that this new development will enable many more to enjoy a new way of dressing with the weather, instead of against it. And we can't wait to deliver that experience to many more Starkweather women, and men, as the seasons go on. 

Lovely local fibers and fashion: Naxos, Greece

There were some beautiful local textile moments in Naxos, Greece.

On a hike from Halki to Moni, we walked into a quiet corner of Moni where a woman was sitting, working on a textile pinned to a pillow on her lap, sitting on a stoop near a marble square while she chatted with her daughter. We said hello and asked directions to a café and she asked us if we were interested in seeing the process of the weaving. I jumped at it, and was so glad to have done so. She showed us the process and how the loom worked, and then we browsed her textile collection: traditional long & narrow sizes mostly with stripes in red, natural white and blue. All of them in cotton, and much like you see in shops in all of the towns as typical Cycladic souvenirs. And then there was this one in wool:

It's something worth bringing home & something worth supporting.

The above photo is the back side, made of local Naxian wool and hand woven on the loom. There was only one made of wool out of dozens made of cotton. The wool fibers being rare as they spool the fibers for the wool themselves from the sheep of the village. This small, 2x4' piece of woolen love is a true treasure. 

Eleftheria Krpodini showing us her process at the loom. 

A view of dusk on the hills, hiking back towards Halki.

A doorway at one square where the village children were practicing dances for the Panaghia festival on 15 August.

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The Loom: Greek made, organic clothes in central downtown Naxos. Rustic and rough around the edges, but with good stuff inside.

A beautiful Greek designer Ioanna Kourbela. This black cotton voile vest with herringbone cotton ribbon trim blew my mind.

Greek (Hellenic) knitwear, made in Greece of "environ mentally" friendly Greek cotton.