While thumbing through a coffee table book that was lying around I came across an intimate image taken by the photographer, Tseng Kwong Chi. It was a photo taken in 1983 of Keith Haring’s body painting, “Into 84.” Its complexity, originality, and vulnerability really struck me. I was moved by the connection that Keith had with the choreographer, Bill T. Jones, to create such powerful work using his body and his movement. Then when considering the friendship of Keith and Tseng and the connection they all had while capturing this image, it is in so many ways a celebration of kinship and creating. The handwork and artisanship represented in one image evoked familiarity and connectedness for me. The connectedness that we are all missing these days. This pushed me to think about the human connection we have with clothing and craft and it urged me to develop an increased use of hand workmanship throughout this Fall Winter 2021 collection.
For Fall ’21, I created a custom lace inspired by this infinite maze painted by Haring. This custom lace is used most noticeably in floor-length gowns with a guipure bib, mended scallop, and an irregular chiffon lining at its raw-edged hem. The lace is also seen on the bibs of blouses and the hems of midi-length dresses.
The playfulness of fringe and tassel were used, hand-woven and hand-crocheted throughout our knitwear dresses and an oversized knit slip-over cloak. We partnered with Amantani, a family-owned business in Peru, using locally sustainably sourced Royal Alpaca Yarn. We are humbled to have the culture and intricate craftsmanship of this region woven into our knitting. The collection’s desaturated earth-tone color palette had stemmed from an almost inky-black, retro feeling chocolate brown that we found and then challenged ourselves to modernize. These umber shades are juxtaposed with rosebud, lilac, desert rose, and sage.
This Fall season marks the first time we combined multiple fabrications in multiple categories. We are pairing knit with vegan leather, wool ribbed knitwear with washed silk, and suede with cotton crochet. Angularly sliced architectural cutouts are seen at the collar bone and rib cage. These cutouts are emblazoned with irregularly shaped gold-dipped statement jewels, adding elements of allure and intrigue. Plush knit cables are found in shape hugging whole-body dresses, sweaters, and skirting. To accessorize, we are thrilled to debut our handbag collection and collaboration with Aesther Ekme, the Danish goods label.
I find myself most inspired creating items that evoke confidence and comfort, as we continue to reconnect with one another and reckon with a deeper understanding of the things that need to change within it.
Video: Robbie Corral
Video Editing: Kersti Jan Wedal
Images: Tanya and Zhenya Posternak
Art Direction: Rana Toofanian
Styling: Alexandra Carl
Casting: Ben Grimes
Talent: Cyrielle Lalande, Annibelis Baez, Theresa Hayes
Hair Styling: Rachel Lee Wright
Makeup Artist: Courtney Perkins
Music: Futures by Roary
Looking back from 2026, the Fall Winter 2021 collection's emphasis on hand craftsmanship and sustainable sourcing proved prescient, anticipating the broader industry shift toward artisanal slow fashion that has since become a defining movement in luxury ready-to-wear.
The Keith Haring Connection: Art as a Design Foundation
The decision to root an entire collection in a single archival photograph speaks to Jonathan Simkhai’s broader creative philosophy, one that treats fashion as a conversation between disciplines rather than an isolated commercial exercise. The 1983 image by Tseng Kwong Chi, documenting Keith Haring’s body painting collaboration with choreographer Bill T. Jones, carries layers of meaning that extend well beyond its visual surface. It is a document of queer kinship, of bodies as canvases, and of art-making as a communal, embodied act.
Simkhai translated this layered meaning into the collection’s most technically demanding element: a custom guipure lace derived from the maze-like linework that defined Haring’s visual vocabulary. Where Haring used the human body as his medium, Simkhai used the lace as a second skin, wrapping the figure in interlocking paths that suggest both containment and freedom. This is not superficial artistic borrowing. It is a considered engagement with source material that honors the spirit of interconnectedness at the heart of Haring’s practice. The result is a collection that wears its references with intellectual seriousness while remaining thoroughly wearable and commercially coherent.
Sustainability and Global Craft Partnerships
The Fall Winter 2021 collection’s collaboration with Amantani, a family-owned Peruvian workshop specializing in Royal Alpaca yarn, represents a deliberate step toward supply chain transparency at a moment when the industry was under mounting pressure to justify its sourcing practices. Royal Alpaca is among the finest natural fibers available, prized for its exceptional softness, thermal regulation, and hypoallergenic properties. By partnering with a business rooted in the Andean region where alpaca husbandry has been practiced for centuries, Simkhai embedded genuine provenance into each hand-crocheted and hand-woven piece.
This approach aligns with what has since become recognized as the slow fashion model: valuing the labor and cultural knowledge invested in a garment as integral components of its worth. The fringe and tassel detailing visible throughout the knitwear collection is not decorative shorthand. It reflects the specific technical traditions of Andean textile production, giving each piece a traceable cultural identity. Looking at the broader landscape from the vantage point of 2026, this partnership appears forward-thinking. Brands that established authentic craft relationships during this period have built considerably more durable consumer trust than those that adopted sustainability language without the corresponding supply chain commitments.
Fabrication Innovation and the Debut Handbag Collection
One of the most commercially significant developments in the Jonathan Simkhai Fall Winter 2021 collection was the brand’s first systematic exploration of cross-category fabrication mixing. Pairing knit with vegan leather, wool ribbed knitwear with washed silk, and suede with cotton crochet introduced a textural complexity that elevated the collection beyond single-fabric dressing. These combinations required considerable technical problem-solving at the construction level, as each material carries different weight, stretch, and finishing requirements. The angular architectural cutouts at the collarbone and rib cage, set with irregularly shaped gold-dipped jewels, further demonstrated the brand’s confidence in structural design as a means of creating visual drama without relying solely on surface embellishment.
Equally noteworthy was the debut of Simkhai’s handbag line, developed in partnership with Aesther Ekme, the Copenhagen-based accessories label known for its clean Scandinavian construction and considered material choices. This collaboration introduced a new dimension to the Simkhai offering, extending the brand’s reach into the accessories market with a partner whose design sensibility shares its preference for restraint over excess. For a ready-to-wear brand seeking to build a complete wardrobe proposition, a credible accessories entry point is a significant strategic milestone, and the Aesther Ekme partnership provided exactly that foundation.
