An Ethereal Escape with abacaxi
It didn’t go without noticing that not only was the clothing vibrant and full of vigor, but so was the varied and inclusive cast of models that Sood chose to work with. Many walks of life were represented on that runway, truly making this debut show an opportunity for individuals of all different communities to come together and celebrate life.
office had the chance to head backstage and speak with abacaxi’s founder and designer, Sheena Sood, ahead of the breathtaking show. Read the full interview below.
This is your first ever runway show; how does it feel to be here sharing your art with a crowd?
It's kind of unreal. It feels like my dreams [have] come true and I just feel excited to be able to do this right now. It's funny, working on a show, I've been working so hard for so many weeks and now is the moment where we finally get to celebrate all of that. I'm excited to see what everyone thinks of the collection and for this whole group of models. A lot of them are models who I've been working with before, but it's kind of the first time that they're all together too. So I feel like it's like a whole team coming together for the first time.
I know all of your designs are usually inspired by paying homage to nature and sustainability, and the bright, vibrant colors of South Asian cultures — but what is the main inspiration behind this specific collection?
Well, there's two different things I want to talk about. The first is because you mentioned sustainability and nature. I'm super excited to be working with a few new producers, one of whom is Oshadi; they're in South India and they do regenerative cotton farming. They do everything from growing the cotton, to spinning, to dying with all plant dyes. So I got to design a custom weave — a custom-dyed weave — that I'm super excited about; it's all plant dyes. You'll see. So it's very connected to the Earth in that way as well. I'm also working with a new basket weaver who I met in Oaxaca earlier this year. But the inspiration, you know, I titled the collection 'Stingray.' Sometimes these motifs just pop up in my work and in my head and kind of end up in the collection. Basically I had this experience, several many years ago, but I've always been afraid of the ocean and drownings because of an experience that I had during childhood. So I've never wanted to submerge my head underwater — I was too scared. But I was in Costa Rica with my family and it was just one of the most idyllic places. You couldn't not go snorkeling. The water was warm, super clear. So I did it, and I was still really afraid, but it felt like one of those big moments. As soon as I put my head underwater, it was this incredible kaleidoscopic, beautiful rainbow of fish and sea life. That image of this stingray swimming at the bottom of the floor just sort of stuck with me. So I was thinking about why now, as I'm designing, I sketched things out and put the prints together and the stingrays kind of came into it, but I was thinking about why this is now significant to me. It's kind of connected to those moments where nature transcends, and also the theme of overcoming fear.
I love that. You’ve said that you like to tell stories with every collection created. I know we just touched on some of the story behind this collection, but what is the story you think people will leave with today after the show or what will they have gained?
That's the story — definitely this moment of overcoming fear. I think the past few years, for me personally, and the past couple of years for everybody have been really difficult. So it was sort of a time to find creativity and joy and color and celebration that would connect to the self and connect to nature.
We talked a little bit about ethically producing your fibers and textiles. Why is it important to you to make sure your resources are ethically produced?
Before I started abacaxi, I worked for a lot of other brands and I decided I didn't want to contribute to the waste that was already happening in the industry. So I think from the beginning, that's always been part of the ethos and the production — to plan to do small batch production and now regenerative. There's so many different methods. There's so many different plant dyes and things to explore that I also find creatively interesting. It was just a desire to not be another over-producer. It started as a creative project that I was doing on the side, but now the brand has grown from just a creative project into a whole entire, bigger thing.
What is your favorite look from today’s collection?
One you'll see is this bright green crochet knit that's made with anguish cotton in Peru. It's a shrug and little knit shorts with a knit tank top. I love that look. That popped into my head right away. Also, there's a shisha — which is mirror work — shrug in black with a little black dress and a matching mask. That's definitely another one of my favorites.
SHOW CREDITS:
Stylist: Ashly Tsao, Makeup: Will Metivier and Randy Rosenthal, Hair: Chika Nishiyama, Nails: Cecilia Matthews, Photography, lighting, set: Enmi Yang, Videographer: Zara Saraon, Producer: Juliet Savittieri, Music by: Thanushka (DJ Ushka), After Party DJ: Adeline, Pearl Jewelry Collab: Tanaïs and abacaxi, Shoes by: abacaxi, Press: House Of, Casting: abacaxi
Dive into the sea of abacaxi by viewing the runway looks below.
