Welcome to Work in Progress, our new weekly newsletter with short updates on the stores, the buy and so much more. Join our team every Saturday as we dive into what’s going on in the world of beauty, both behind the scenes and on the global stage.
OUR TRANSFORMATION
A Week in Wild Life
If you have stopped by Wild Life in the past few days, you may have noticed the space is a little different… less table linens and more wearable linens. After a week of construction, painting and re-curating, we have transformed it to present clothing and accessories alongside our existing offerings for the home. With this move, we come just a bit closer to our dream of the stores: three distinct spaces offering a clear concept for living. Our goal is for Wild Life to feel fun, airy and totally carefree.
We will still carry home goods, but now they have been mixed into all three of our spaces. Astier de Villatte is a perfect pairing with Péro in Santa Fe Dry Goods and Nobue Ibaraki sings in Workshop. Bertozzi remains one of our favorite studios, and matches perfectly with the smart but playful vibes of Daniela Gregis… a core label of ours which now lives in Wild Life (alongside Gilda Midani, Casey Casey, Bergfabel and more.) There will be much to share as the store stretches its new legs. In the meantime, we hope you will stop by and have a laugh with us—we anticipate joie de vivre to emanate from this space daily.
You must be sick of hearing about tariffs. We know we are! But the reality is, high taxes on foreign imports affects little businesses like ours all over the country. The good news: We are not raising our prices to absorb tariff costs. We are committed to bringing in the beautiful things of the world wherever they may be found, and supporting the dedicated artists who make them a reality. While the situation is ever-changing, we don’t anticipate altering the way we do things and we will let you know if the need arises.
Any price increases you experience in our stores are related to the cost of production—labor, materials and the like. In particular, we’ve seen an uptick in the costs associated with elaborate embroidery and other fine handwork. These are typically skills that are so specialized that they are not readily available and require intensive training to achieve. While we await a skill transfer to the generation of highly-accomplished master craftspeople, know that goods of this type will only become more valuable and rare as time marches on.
Speaking of fine embroidery, we invite you to lose yourself in the careful handwork of AODress. Sprawling across their handwoven linen textiles, these intricate pieces embody the magic of the human hand.
The main difference between commercial workwear and workwear as fashion is how much thought, effort and quality has been put into the designs. Studios that excel at the latter focus on sourcing the best cottons for their pieces, with an emphasis on weight, breathability, hand-feel… and even the sound it makes when you rub it between two fingers. You tend to see Japanese paper cottons often in workwear collections like these —not only is the material durable enough for heavy wear, but it feels incredible on the body. The full sensorial experience is as important to the design as how it looks… subtly helping you roll up your sleeves and get to work in whatever field you’re in—literally or figuratively.
Though this delivery hasn’t arrived in full, what is on the rack in Santa Fe Dry Goods already is well worth the attention. The first collection designed by the team in tandem after the departure of their namesake designer, this Spring/Summer delivery harkens back to the golden age of Dries: tonal and tailored, with just the right amount of embellished drama.
While we received a handful of jewelry pieces that are classic Lika (if you are a diamond and gold person, look no further,) we also had the pleasure of unpacking her gemstone work. The turquoise of note? Sonoran Sunshine — a gemmy, teal varietal mined in the desert of its namesake.
There is an art to finding the perfect handbag. It has to be as durable as it is stylish, as practical as it is easy—with all the bells and whistles required for your busiest of days. Designer Melissa Morris is committed to perfecting this art. She describes herself as “passionate about creating elegant solutions for modern problems,” such as a bag that can carry everything, everywhere for years and still look great.
The last of spring has made its way to us and the stores are alive with new things to love (and lust after!) In these last arrivals: Dries Van Noten, Daniela Gregis, Christian Peau and a new addition, Ruohan. We can’t wait to share them with you online, but if you are in Santa Fe in the coming days, please stop by and enjoy them in-store.
