New Crop’s Lookbook

Posted by charmie on April 7, 2014

We couldn’t be more excited to work and collaborate with Bangkok’s dream team on our first lookbook! The location was lush and beautiful in contrast of the big bustling city that it was in. The vibrant colors of our clothing line, and indigenous fabrics and patterns just radiated amongst all the greenery.

Find these amazing pieces in the shop!

Photographer: Cynthia Barbachano

Makeup artist: Khao Kwankao

Styling: New Crop

Riding Out The Neon Signs of Route 66

Posted by charmie on March 30, 2014

It’s been almost a year since I have driven a car. I haven’t even thought about it, or missed it. That is until I started listening to our road trip playlist and dejavus started flooding my memory. Isn’t it funny how music can pull you into its time machine and land you in a familiar moment?

Last summer we rode Route 66 all the way to California, as long and slowly as possible. The journey on this vast open road, reciprocated what was happening inside. All of a sudden we were facing the exact opposite of everything we were accustomed to. We rode until it was dark with no perception of time except for “light or dark”, veered off tracks to feed our curiosity and the only deadline we had to meet was our one way flight out of the country a month away. Gonzo stayed on my lap as the open air became his lullaby.

Once we hit the west, we realized we not have only traveled in miles but also back in time. Deserted old motels, faded neon signs and abandoned diners still stands like a ghost town out of a movie. We were in awe of the time warp that we found ourselves in. What we were most impressed with was the design aesthetic of the vintage neon signs. The colors, and the retro typefaces had us stopping every half a mile. From a designers perspective, there was a lot of inspiration to be found here. From a travelers perspective, this was my first encounter of the beauty in traveling slow and smelling the roses (or adoring the neon signs).

Spontaneous Mix: Hmong Textiles + Sports

Posted by charmie on March 26, 2014

I will admit, I was pretty excited to see this mix of ethnic textile clothing styled with Puma’s new collection “Next Starts Now.” I love mixing a spontaneous touch of culture with an unlikely mix like bright sporty tennis shoes. A few months back, we had the beautiful experience of witnessing the Hmong women create their magic through traditional textile techniques and dying processes. Made me appreciate even more the cultural gem and wearable art that it is. Whether hung in a gallery or rocking out with tennis shoes!

image source

Beauty Around the World Project

Posted by charmie on March 23, 2014

I’ve had a chance to get connected with Mihaela Noroc of Beauty Around the World Project, and though we were not able to organize a date we could both be in Bangkok, I still have to share her amazing project! The Beauty Around the World project combines her passion for fashion photography with her passion for travel. Her intentions are to travel to 35 countries in 16 months and capture the diverse beauty of local women in all the places she discovers. Such cultural beauties fill her tumblr, and it’s such an inspiring space to appreciate and celebrate our cultural differences and similarities.

Artist Spotlight: Neil Krug

Posted by charmie on March 18, 2014

We’re scheduled to return back to the U.S. in August and I’m already bracing myself for the transition. I am however looking forward to being able to grow my book collection again. The images above are by Neil Krug one of our all time favorite photographers. His photography book is something we always had on our coffee table. His images has so much depth, you almost, always see something different each time you look at them.

Home is a Feeling: Koh Lanta

Posted by charmie on March 15, 2014

I’ve come to understand that truths behind words such as family, love, happiness, home and freedom are all based on a feeling versus a tangible place or object. During our travels people ask me where is home and it always takes me a minute to respond. There are so many places that are home to me, from the mountains of East Tennessee where I grew up, to the Philippines where I spent my childhood, or Chiang Mai where we have called home for the past few months. This past week we spent it on the island of Koh Lanta. It’s always a surreal feeling when you see familiar faces in completely foreign place. Aaron’s childhood friend Patrick came to visit, and though it has been years since we’ve seen him, our conversations felt like it hasn’t skipped a beat. Last time we saw Patrick was in our college apartment, bonding over cheap 40’s while him and Aaron played video games. Today we are here watching the sunset on an island in Thailand, (still drinking cheap beer), and catching up. The way he chain smokes and laughs is like deja vu, and seeing him felt like he brought a piece of our other home to us. While here, we stayed with our friends who were our neighbors in the same zen compound we once called home in the fall of last year. They invited us down to the island to catch up, so we invited Patrick to join us and for the first time since we left home, we are with familiar faces in a completely different place. I can’t pin why it felt like home, maybe it’s the island vibe that we connect to, it could be reuniting with Patrick after all these years, or sharing a small space with close friends again. Home is such a beautiful feeling, and its what keeps us traveling. We have found our pieces of home, friends, love, and freedom sprinkled in different places all along our journey.

Artist Spotlight: Kathy of Danmala

Posted by charmie on March 4, 2014

Danmala designer Kathy creates inspiring art with nature’s abundance of life and beauty. Her process is purely therapeutic for both the creator and the receiver of her art. She transcends into a meditative state as she collects the natural elements around her.

“Her inspiration is given from the golden sound residing within perfect silence. They are reflections of the inexpressible, a gesture which points towards life’s abundance, an unspoken verse of Love. The danmalas remind us all to listen to the unheard voice of nature, creation, and the eternal mystery.”

See more of Kathy’s Danmalas

How a Small Island Can Make You Feel Even Smaller

Posted by charmie on March 1, 2014

We consider ourselves slow travelers, only after a couple weeks in a place do we really feel that we begin to crack its shell. This is when we start to know the personality behind faces, the story behind the past, and know which dusty roads leads to surrounding villages. I write this during our revisit to Cambodia, as we walk to the sandy coastline of Kampot and as we board a tiny boat to the small island of Koh Tonsay. This charming island inhabited by only 7 families, had no electricity but rather generators that ran a few hours a day. No clocks or wifi and all the food consumed is the food caught from the sea and eaten from the land. No matter how slow we go, there’s something about island life that flows even slower, steadier, and in the most content pace. Our days here felt like a constant state of meditation. The walls of our huts were only halfway connected to its straw roof allowing the breeze to follows us indoors. When I hear noises in the night that move about on our roof, or right outside our thin layers of leafy walls, I clinch our sheets and wonder why us humans have found ways to separate ourselves so far from nature. Why do these noises from other inhabitants of this earth sound so alien to me? Have I gotten so used to the chaotic sounds of the city, that I fall fast asleep during honking horns and drunken rambles of the street, yet lie awake at night to sounds of night creatures? Every step of this journey has been a rewiring of balance. I realize this worlds vastness, as I look up I almost get dizzy with the starry display of an even bigger cosmic world that reflects on the serene ocean. As it washes ashore against my feet, smile as I reflect myself to be a dust-like particle in this vast space and I couldn’t feel any smaller.

Songbird + Eclectic Textiles

Posted by charmie on February 25, 2014

Meet Ashley Monical, a musician and songbird wrapped beautifully in our Electric Earth Textile. Her radiance matches her textile’s vibrant details.

Styled by Katie Lesnick, and Photographed by master shutterbug Alice Rabbit. Find your textile!

Artisan Spotlight: Sophie Leininger of Magic Carpet Yoga Mats

Posted by charmie on February 17, 2014

Meet Sophie, an artist, avid painter, and fellow textile lover of Magic Carpet Yoga Mats. Inspired by traditional and ethnic rug designs, she created an outlet for her passion in painting and transformed her paintings of ethnic rug patterns into sustainably printed yoga mats. Combing art with yoga just made sun salutations that much more beautiful. She’s captured the eyes of art enthusiasts and yogis alike such as Oprah Magazine and Fitness Magazine. Her Magic Carpet Yoga mats have also landed a spot on Anthropologie’s shelves! I think she’s doing a few things right 😉 Sophie is truly a humble and inspiring being, she shares with us advice on following our bliss, and being a creative entrepreneur.

Sophie loving on some textiles

Painting on paper then printed onto a yoga mat

Many creatives struggle with honing in on one craft and mastering it. They find that they are a jack of all trades and a master at none. Did you find yourself at this position before? Or have you always focused on being a painter?

I’ve definitely found myself in this position before! My excitement for different projects often feels impeding to focusing on just one trade, skill, or medium. I focused on painting in college and use these skills in Magic Carpet Yoga Mats, but am also very interested in sculpture, installation, and performance art. My studio mate Faye Kendall and I currently operate as a collective called The Dog and Wolf and actively create collaborative installation work together.

What made you decide on yoga mats as a medium for your beautiful paintings?

The idea for Magic Carpet Yoga Mats initially came as a desire to see rug imagery on yoga mats. Since I am a painter, it then followed to paint these designs.

For starting art-entrepreneurs keeping sane and balance is key. What is your advice for fueling their creative side, and your advice on sharpening their business side.

This is a tricky one! I can’t say I’ve found this balance yet for myself. It always seems like the administrative tasks take up so much more time than anticipated and getting into the studio becomes difficult some weeks. I’ve found that keeping certain days as holy, studio days, can be very helpful. I’m also working on being less hard on myself for not making it into the studio as often as I would like, or for delaying some administrative tasks so that the creative ones may hold precedent.

It’s a saturated marketing online and offline, what is our advice for artists/artisans and creatives alike on making your craft stand out?

My advice here is to be consistent with your branding and have all of your sites (website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) linked to each other. Also, connect with your network of peers online! We are each other’s best allies. 🙂

Lastly, what’s manifetsting for MCYM in 2014?

I am hard at work on new yoga mat designs for this year and next! We are also developing some secret-for-now new products for hot yoga enthusiasts, moms, dads, and more. This summer you will also see some creative partnerships with other designers on our site. Stay tuned!

Photo credit: Olivia Vale Photography & Ana Mercedes Photography, Model is Ceci Alejandra, Styling by Shari Gerstenberger, and make up by Erin Freeman.