“Do you know the feeling when it's 2AM and you decide that the next day you're going to get your entire life together?”
One night I decided that I wanted to start going to the New York Botanical Gardens in hopes that it would change my life, lol.
The next morning, I find myself sitting on a bench, journaling in the quiet stillness. I watch as water droplets trace delicate ripples. Inspired, I pick up my pencil and begin sketching, letting the moment flow.
The design process begins by creating rough sketches.
The next step is to pick a color for the fabric from the Pantone book. Each color has a unique code that we send to the dye house in Los Angeles. We usually pick two to three different shades of each color and get lab dips — fabric swatches dyed with the chosen colors — and from these, we pick our favorite. The final color is then decided.
Once the color and sketch are finalized, the right artists need to be found to bring the vision to life. We commissioned artist Rushad Kolah to create the lotus lily pad design, which he did entirely on his iPad. For the blooming orchid set, we commissioned watercolor artist Andrea Kazam to watercolor the orchids.
The step following design involves producing the actual pieces, which begins with extensive sampling. This collection was our most challenging to date, featuring the highest number of pieces we've ever produced, the most prints we've ever created, and two new products: the Alchemai Sweats and the Blooming Orchid Jumpsuit.
The development of the Alchemai one-size zip-up took over a year, while the Alchemai sweatpants took six months. This duration doesn't include the actual cosmetic design; it merely covers the shape and size. We made countless tweaks to ensure the final product was unique and maintained Alchemai's high-quality standards.
When printing the clothes, we encountered numerous challenges in achieving the correct colors. Working with paintings from artists often made it difficult to get the tones just right. This process took us over a month and involved too many samples to count.
We also focused on the finer details during our seven-month hiatus. Here are some of the new details at Alchemai:
Our new main labels feature a unique quote on each Alchemai piece. However, the quotes are not all the same; they are chosen randomly, so not everyone gets the same one.
Usually, removing a hangtag from a piece of clothing is a thoughtless action. We wanted to change that; our hangtags are inspired by the Japanese knife and the iconic Alchemai orange aura.
Along with every hangtag is a photo charm that is custom-made for each design. At Alchemai, we strive to make the experience memorable.
Lookbook
April 24, 2024
New York Botanical Garden & Bronx Zoo
miranda rae (model)
aaron lliebregts (model)
ethan tran (photographer)
ellinor kry (photographer)
shotbyfaces (videographer)
mai pham (creative director / producer)
mehreen ahsan (co-producer)
