It’s no secret that designers Rianna Kounou and Nina Knaudt love a long, lost treasure – their Rianna + Nina one-of-a-kind collection is often assembled from carefully sourced antique and vintage textiles.
However, their ready-to-wear bears the same fascination – each piece of printed silk drips in reinterpreted and abstracted motifs from the duo’s storied aesthetic library.
Rianna + Nina’s latest collection, Kipos, reveals a secret garden native to its namesake. Its a collection defined by exuberant prints with a strong connection to nature. Its descriptors – evocative in both Greek and English – are a wild landscape of Anthos (flowers), Dásos (forests) and Limni (lakes.)
The colorful patterns are wholly inspired by a gift – an heirloom, in fact. Kipos’s origin is found in a traditional Japanese tapestry given to Rianna by her mother. In Rianna + Nina’s ready-to-wear silks, find Rianna’s hand-painted rendition of this textile.
By layering and overlapping the motifs, Rianna deepens the patterns and infuses them with movement – adding to the overall impact of the garment. The flowing nature of silk heightens the garment’s motion, breathing a bit of life and magic into both the piece and its wearer.
