IT STARTED IN 2024, ON A SAFARI IN THE MAASAI MARA.

I TOOK MY FATHER THERE FOR HIS BIRTHDAY, A SURPRISE TRIP TO A PLACE DEFINED BY UNTAMED WILDERNESS. I'M TRADITIONALLY SOMEONE WHO AVOIDS GETTING DIRTY AT ALL COSTS, I NEVER UNDERSTOOD HOW PEOPLE WILLINGLY CHOSE "THE OUTDOORS". AND YET EVERY EVENING I CAME BACK FROM THE WILDERNESS UTTERLY CAKED IN DIRT AND DUST, SMILING. THIS WAS ONE OF THE FEW TIMES THE OUTDOORS SPOKE TO ME THE SAME WAY AN ART MUSEUM OR AMAZING FILM WOULD HAVE.

A DENSE FOREST FEELS LIKE IT'S CLOSING IN ON YOU. THE MARA WAS THE OPPOSITE. MILES AND MILES OF VISIBILITY, NOTHING HIDDEN, NOTHING IN THE WAY. THE MARA WAS A MIRROR. WITH NO SIGNAL AND NOTHING TO SCROLL, I WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO REFLECT. I REALIZED HOW LITTLE I ACTUALLY NEEDED TO BE HAPPY. JUST THE LAND. JUST THE PEOPLE IN FRONT OF ME.

PEOPLE CROSS THE WORLD TO SEE THE ANIMALS, THE TREES, THE NATURE IN TOTALITY. I CROSSED THE WORLD AND CAME BACK TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE. THEY STAYED WITH ME LONGER THAN ANY ANIMAL SIGHTING DID.

THE SPARK FOR THIS COLLECTION CAME ON A DUSTY ROAD, LOOKING AT A GROUP OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-AGED KIDS. THEY WERE WEARING DONATED CLOTHING — MITUMBA — NEVER INTENDED FOR THEM.

WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE WAS AN XXL TRACK JACKET ON A SIX-ISH YEAR OLD. SHOULDERS FLYING OFF THE FRAME. THE ZIPPER PULLED ALL THE WAY UP, FORCING THE COLLAR TO COLLAPSE INTO A FUNNEL NECK OF SORTS INSTEAD OF A STANDARD ONE. THE CUFFS ON THE TRACK JACKET SO LONG IT ALMOST ENGULFED HIS HANDS. NEAR THEM, GIRLS IN MAKESHIFT MAXI SKIRTS THAT WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE SKIRTS AT ALL. THE HEM OF THE SKIRT GRACED THE GROUND EVER SO SLIGHTLY LIKE A WHISPER. WE WERE ONLY DRIVING BY FOR THIRTY SECONDS, BUT THE WHOLE COLLECTION STARTED RIGHT THERE.

IT WAS A SILHOUETTE BUILT OUT OF NECESSITY, AND IT WAS STILL MORE FASHIONABLE THAN ANYTHING COMING OUT OF A HOUSE IN PARIS OR MILAN.

THE MARA SHOWED ME HOW LITTLE I NEEDED. THOSE KIDS SHOWED ME WHERE I CAME FROM. COMING FROM A LOWER-INCOME BACKGROUND, YOU LEARN EARLY HOW TO MAKE DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE. YOU REPURPOSE. YOU OVERSIZE. YOU ADJUST. YOU LACK RESOURCES, BUT YOU NEVER LACK STYLE. SURVIVAL AND NECESSITY ARE ALWAYS THE TRUE LIFE FORCE OF STYLE.

FROM THAT CAME THE DEFINING SILHOUETTES OF SS26 — THE MITUMBA TRACK JACKET AND THE DRIFTLINE SKIRT. BUT WHILE THE DESIGNS WERE STILL BEING ADJUSTED, A HEAVIER REALIZATION SET IN.

FASHION HAS A DESIGN PROBLEM. FOR DECADES, DESIGNERS HAVE RAIDED LESS-PRIVILEGED CULTURES — TAKING SILHOUETTES, COLORS, HISTORIES — AND SOLD THEM BACK TO THE WEALTHY, LEAVING THE SOURCE WITH NOTHING. I DIDN'T WANT TO BE ANOTHER TOURIST LOOKING THROUGH A LENS. HOW COULD I TAKE THE LOOK THOSE KIDS BUILT OUT OF NECESSITY, PROFIT OFF THE RESULT OF THEIR CREATIVITY, AND GIVE NOTHING BACK TO THE PLACE THAT GAVE ME SO MUCH?

EVERYTHING THOSE KIDS WORE WAS BORROWED. HANDED DOWN, DONATED, PASSED ALONG FROM SOMEONE THEY'D NEVER MEET. WE BORROWED FROM THEM TOO. SO WE GIVE BACK.

WHAT STARTED AS A COLLECTION BECAME OUR PLATFORM. +254 WAS THE STARTING POINT FOR A PERMANENT COMMITMENT — A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS FROM EVERY COLLECTION WE DROP GOES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY THAT INSPIRED IT.

THE MARA KEPT GIVING AFTER THAT FIRST DAY. ANTELOPE HORNS BECAME THE CURVED PANELS ON THE TRACK JACKET. A DIRT ROAD SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO A CLAY BANK BECAME THE ENTIRE COLOR LANGUAGE OF THE COLLECTION — MURRAM AND CLAY. EVEN THE LOGOS PLASTERED ACROSS THOSE DONATED JACKETS BECAME SOMETHING OF THEIR OWN. THOSE KIDS HAD NO IDEA WHAT HALF OF THOSE BRANDS OR TEAMS WERE. THEY WORE THEM BECAUSE THEY LOOKED INTERESTING, NOTHING MORE. THAT'S THE SAME INSTINCT BEHIND GREAT STYLE ANYWHERE. YOU DON'T NEED THE CONTEXT TO KNOW SOMETHING LOOKS RIGHT.

THE PROPORTIONS STAYED CHILDLIKE ON PURPOSE ACROSS THE WHOLE LINE. SHOULDERS BUILT BIGGER THAN THEY NEED TO BE. LINES SET SLIGHTLY OFF. THE DRIFTLINE SKIRT RUNS LONG ENOUGH TO DRAG AND FRAY OVER TIME, JUST AS THE SKIRTS THAT INSPIRED IT LOOKED TO AGE.

I SAW PEOPLE WEARING CLOTHES MOST OF US WOULD KEEP FOLDED IN A CLOSET. WORKING IN THEM. LIVING IN THEM. BEAUTIFUL, SECOND HAND PIECES. SOFTENED. FADED. TORN AND REPAIRED. WARPED AND WRINKLED INTO SHAPES SO STRANGE YOU'D HAVE TO ASK SOMEONE DIRECTLY HOW THE FABRIC EVEN GOT THAT WAY.

MOST PEOPLE NEVER WEAR ANYTHING LONG ENOUGH, OR HARD ENOUGH, TO GET THERE. THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER OUTFIT, ANOTHER OCCASION TO SAVE SOMETHING FOR. OUT THERE, CLOTHES GET WORN BECAUSE THERE'S NO OTHER OPTION, AND SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL HAPPENS TO THEM BECAUSE OF IT. SEEING THAT PATINA FOR THE FIRST TIME HIT ME THE SAME WAY SEEING RAW DENIM FADE FOR THE FIRST TIME DID.

RAW AND ELEGANT WERE NEVER OPPOSITES OUT THERE. THAT'S WHY BRUSHED COTTON TWILL RUNS THROUGH THE WHOLE COLLECTION FOR THE UTILITY OF IT, PAIRED AGAINST SATIN PLEAT FOR THE PART THAT STILL WANTS TO BE BEAUTIFUL. BOTH AT ONCE. THAT'S WHAT THE MARA TAUGHT ME, AND IT'S WHAT THIS COLLECTION IS BUILT ON.

THIS IS AN EXCHANGE I ONLY HOPE TO ONE DAY BE ABLE TO REPAY.

FROM THE MARA TO THE WORLD.

YOU AND I.