Ivey Abitz Women's Look Books

Look Book Index

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Artist Statement Limited Edition 2009

Embroidery and openwork weaves are some of my favourite details in a fine piece of cloth. They are, many times, the enablers of my vision for a particular garment to come to life.

Such is the case with the Limited Edition 2009 Collection for summer. I have chosen intricately embroidered cotton voiles and a midweight cotton to give depth and texture to the featured summer designs, like the Celia Dress and Celia Frock. The Twilight Openwork Silk is a slight departure from the embroidered fabrics in that it has an openness in the design to show fabrics underneath. The Openwork Silk is a perfect choice for your favourite new layering frock, like the Bonheur Frock.

The Limited Edition Collection's palette complements the current Summer 2009 Collection, and garments in Limited Edition fabrics can be ordered alongside our current summer designs to create unequaled ensembles. Our Summer 2009 cotton voiles, silks, and all season linens, for example, blend exquisitely with these newly featured fabrics.

Just as the last weeks of summer are fleeting, so is the Limited Edition collection. Rare and unique by nature, we only offer the Limited Edition collection for one month. I invite you to order now from this limited edition regalia - made just for you for each and every day.

-Cynthia Ivey Abitz
Designer, Ivey Abitz

Artist Statement Summer 2009

Black and white photographs evoke summer. Growing up, I used to sit for hours in my family cottage on Lake Huron and look at hundreds of black and white snapshots of relatives on vacation, spanning from the 1940's to the 1950's. I grew up in a decade when colour photographs were becoming the rage, and seeing so many black and white photographs was intriguing. From my earliest memories, I wanted to see my life in black and white. The absence of colour allowed my imagination to fill in a new palette.

My grandmother, Celia, was the matriarch of the family cottage. She used to work for a photographer, and she told me stories again and again about hand painting black and white photographs before colour photographs were commonplace. She described her process: just enough rouge on a woman's cheeks or she'd look like a tart and not a lady. Just enough green in the tree or it'd look like broccoli and not a willow. Just enough blue in the sky or it'd look like a carpet and not a cloud. Her "just enough" philosophy suggested an authentic approach to life. She wanted to suggest colour to the viewer and let their imagination fill in the rest. With that approach, it became more real.

I came to create the Summer 2009 Collection with a similar approach. Using black, grey, cream, and white as the base tones for the collection, muted hues are introduced from time to time to suggest the palette of a hand painted black and white photograph from the early 1900's. Various beige-pinks called Rouge. A touch here and there of Cottage Green. Just a hint of blue in Twilight. It creates an aesthetic that is ethereal through my eyes and a lightness that is ideal for summer.

Many featured designs in Summer 2009 have raw edges and gathers, suggesting carefree summer days and waves on the summer lake. Appliqued and embroidered dresses. Puckered stripe jackets. Crumpled frocks. Raw edged trousers. The collection's aesthetic is defining and memorable, just like I hope the summer is for us all.

-Cynthia Ivey Abitz
Designer, Ivey Abitz