I had been anticipating Samantha Pleet SS14 collection entitled Arcadia for quite some time now. I truly mean this! (Instagram can be a curse when it reveals such exciting happenings and then you must play the waiting game). She may be my favorite designer out there at the moment, for reasons that go beyond aesthetic appeal. She is a true artist in all that she does. Her collections consistently transcend time and place (and trend). She is unequivocally her own, and there is nothing I love more.

The short film “Arcadia” and this season’s collection was inspired by the journals of Charles Darwin during his journeys to Tiera Del Fuego, and imagery from Gauguin and Rousseau. The film follows a heroine explorer who happens upon a mythical island-paradise and comes to find her own freedom through the island’s inhabitants – embodying liberation, sensual pleasure, nature and the feminine divine (sign me up!). This season she is back with her signature hand drawn prints and silhouettes that would make any gal look ravishing. And in my case, possibly put my bank account in the negatives just to acquire one piece. You can feel the care and thought she puts into each and every piece, and I just don’t think you can find better garments when love is involved in the process.

Photography: Jacqueline DiMilia
Styling: Turner
Models: Emily Theobold and Tara Violet Niami
Hair: Travis Speck
Make-up: Daniel Alvarez
Shoes: Wolverine 1000 miles x Samantha Pleet
Headpieces: in collaboration with Hannah Metz
Set Design: Patrick Pleet

*film credits at the bottom of post

Film credits —
Director: Maximilla Lukacs & Sarah Sophie Flicker
Producer: Samantha and Patrick Pleet
Director of Photography: Ashley Connor
Narration: Tennesee Thomas
Cast: Emily Theobold, Carlen Altman, Andrea Estella,
Hannah Metz, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Landon Metz and Arrow
Stylist: Hannah Metz
Hair: Travis Speck
Make-up: James Boehmer
Original Score: Sky Country
Additional Score: NUG
Clothes: Samantha Pleet Spring/Summer 2014 collection
Shoes: Wolverine 1000 Mile by Samantha Pleet
Headpieces: in collaboration with Hannah Metz
Set Designer: Chelsea Maruskin
Assistant Set Designer: Keren Weiss
1st A.D.: Lucy Munger
Production Assistants – Amber Day and Lauren McFadzean