Maria McManus often describes her quietly luxurious collections as autobiographical, rooted in what she and her customers wear on a daily basis.
“Not necessarily so influenced by any specific thing that’s happening,” she explained. However, the designer noted that while designing her resort collection, she was relieved by the first American Pope Leo XIV’s appointment. “It just felt like a really nice juxtaposition to the other American we have leading the country,” she said, noting that the backdrop of the collection’s creation “grew out of [his] same desire to foster integrity, strength and compassion.”
This ethos is one continually imbued in the ethical and sustainably-focused designer’s approach, further seen through resort’s new fashions in responsible materials, including a pair of black deconstructed bow-legged workwear trousers in heavier organic cotton twill denim with raw-edge details; drawstring parkas (great in deep black cherry Naia renew) with deadstock linings, bias-cut grosgrain bindings and recycled metal snaps, and a cozy Japanese recycled polyester shearling coat.
“When I was researching, I came across this photo that is really beautiful of nuns working in a convent in northern France, where we get a lot of our laces. So it was all sort of related in a nice way,” she added of sheer Dentelle de Calais-Caudry woven lace skirts and lace-trimmed slip styles.
Another exciting development was a debut pair of black belt loop leggings crafted in a new Italian biodegradable nylon, which McManus said will biodegrade in five years in an industrial grade landfill. The style stood out layered beneath her now-signature sheer midi skirts and oversize shirts, which reflected the reality-driven collection’s balance of elegant femininity and mannish workwear.
