Clover Canyon (Q2801)
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Clover Canyon is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Clover Canyon |
Clover Canyon is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
TheClover Canyongirl is growing up. For Fall, the collection was moodier and far more sophisticated, and there wasn’t a printed neoprene piece—once the label’s signature—in sight. This shift is something that designer Rozae Nichols has been working up to over the past few seasons, and though ditching a signature is always a risky move for a brand, it’s sometimes the only way to evolve.Perhaps because of this sense of newfound freedom, Nichols chose to explore a theme that was close to her heart: the Southwest, a part of the country she has traveled through extensively and has an immense appreciation for. But she wisely decided to eschew all the obvious tropes. “Nothing we did is literal,” she said, adding that some items just shouldn’t be sampled willy-nilly. “I think the Navajo blanket is sacred.” Instead, she took subtle cues from the traditional textile: the red-and-black palette, the sturdy wool, the suggestion of wrapping.There were a lot of wrap skirts, in wool, plaid, and Ultrasuede. Nichols also played with a variety of textures—wool, faux fur, printed velvet—which evoked the untamed vistas of the Southwest. The strongest looks, though, were the Ultrasuede ones that had been painted to appear like deer- or cowhide. As with Nichols’s neoprene digital floral prints, these displayed her knack for creating zeitgeist-y patterns on unexpected materials. That’s something Clover Canyon fans, new and old, will appreciate.
18 February 2016
A vacation to Spain this summer provided designer Rozae Nichols with fodder for Pre-Fall. The rich mosaics of Seville informed many of the patterns, while traditional Andalusian flamenco dress inspired the pieces fringed in silk and fluid braided strings.In some cases, these influences intermingled in inventive ways—a structured shift dress with sporty mesh cutouts, for instance, was unexpectedly adorned with a silk fringed hem. It worked. Elsewhere, the trip’s influence was less direct: The collection was chock-full of pajama silhouettes—printed jumpsuits and shirtdresses with piping—that Nichols mused might have been inspired by “the leisure of the holiday.”ForSpring 2016, Nichols was intent on taking her signature prints to the next dimension, as in 3-D. Here, she played with significantly less embellishment, but when she did use it it led to some of her strongest pieces, like a paillette-adorned shell top. Other favorites included the series of knit pieces with a trompe-l’oeil design that suggested the curve of a bosom.
10 December 2015
The humble weed is finally getting its moment in the spotlight. Inspired by their ability to survive in urban environments against all odds,Rozae Nicholsturned her Spring collection into what she called a “celebration of the mightiness” of these hard-to-kill plants and their knack for “breaking their way through cracks in cement.” Nichols, whose brand launched in 2011, quickly found success with her digital floral prints, which have been stamped on a growing list of categories that now includes shoes and swimwear. But this season the designer seemed to want to branch out in a new direction. Her best pieces—like a color-blocked cami dress or top—weren’t printed at all but embellished with hand-stitched laser-cut flowers, part of Nichols’s aim to push her signature florals “into the third dimension.” The palette—salmon pink with lavender, dusty rose with brown, navy with golden yellow—lent everything a delightful jolie laide vibe. Nichols has also been training her customer to seek solids from the label; the cropped, colorful flares will certainly further her efforts.
17 September 2015
Rozae Nichols knows her way around a good time, sartorially speaking. For Clover Canyon's Resort collection, Nichols tapped into the "ridiculous color and joyfulness" of Long Beach seaside amusement park The Pike. She turned out a vivid homage to California poppies, printing them atop rows of sequins on tops and a shift. Nautical themes came to life in marinière stripes; eyelet detailing; and a pair of toffee-colored, cropped sailor pants. The Pike exists here through the lens of Nichols' idyllic childhood trips, so there was a strong and nostalgic '60s thread, palpable in a pretty jacquard shift and the collection's hero silhouette, an A-line mini and tie-waist halter. Nichols' fun fair fodder lent these clothes a young spirit, but some of her more jolie laide color combos saved the outing from a turn to the saccharine. Case in point: a mod shift, color-blocked in tawny microsuede and forest green patent—sweet but sophisticated.
27 May 2015
Fall felt a little moodier for Clover Canyon. Designer Rozae Nichols was looking at the Brontë sisters, Art Nouveau prints, Edwardians, and just a hint of the Haight. Where her prints often lean acid-hued, explosive, and unchecked, here they swirled smokily against dark backdrops. Tapestry was a major influence and played out in the flourishy elements, while silhouettes leaned toward the decidedly feminine. Think skater dresses; little ruffled jackets (those Edwardians again); and drapey, bell-sleeved boho numbers. Flare cuffs came embellished with intricate, laser-cut Nouveau prints or delicate florals. Nichols went hard with the ruffles, on tops and trousers and even as a faux-leather trim on a Polarfleece scarf—a material that the designer effused over as one of her personal favorites. That particular detail may be a harder sell for her more mature customer. The flares, in a rib-knit and a great striped tropical wool, though, are sure to find a broad fan base.
19 February 2015
Rozae Nichols has never lacked for thinking big. The scale and scope of Clover Canyon's prints are dizzying. But for Pre-Fall, the designer broadened her strokes a bit—away from the hyper-realistic and the hyper-digital—and came out the better for it. Cape Town was her inspiration, and regional elements like designs found on the homes of the Ndebele people and tribal body art inspired some nice, relatively simple propositions. Painted elements relief-printed onto cropped scuba jackets offered new dimension. And black and yellow slub linen was a similarly welcome addition in maxi skirts and sweatshirts, while tropical wool hoodies and track pants tempered the big, volatile-looking protea blooms atop a grid print. Those linen pieces looked like they might even be suited to some South African adventures.
5 December 2014
Womenswear, menswear, and, now for Spring, shoes. Clover Canyon designer Rozae Nichols has been busy expanding her empire of dizzying digital excesses. The footwear in question was, of course, printed, but the line's house-made patterns are less enervating in small quantities: Nichols' oxfords, flatforms, and clog-style wedges (mostly cork-soled) are sure to find fans, especially with a price point close to $200.The inspiration here was pan-Asian. Happily, the theme received a less cartoonish homage than Fall's long, strange trip to Ireland. Designs skewed toward vivid macro-florals, which are easier propositions than the hyper-illustrational, uncanny-valley prints CC is often wont to do. There were a couple of those, of course, like one doozy splashed in a semblance of molten gold. Silhouettes had a lightness to them, whether inspired by kimonos or cheongsam dresses; fabrics like poplin and taffeta were welcome alternatives to some of the slick, unidentifiable blends used in the brand's clothes.Clover Canyon men's, meanwhile, is a little puzzling; it's difficult to imagine anyone other than streetwear devotees wearing those styles, with their gaudy circuit boards and mishmashes of lightning strikes and plaid. But if the VFiles customer is who Nichols is aiming for with those pieces, she'll need to innovate with more than perforated tees.
11 September 2014
Clover Canyon is a brand that has been singularly driven by vibrant digital prints, so it has always come as a surprise that designer Rozae Nichols abstains from color and pattern when it comes to her own wardrobe. But as Nichols sees it, her minimalist personal style provides a blank canvas for ideas so she can focus on the next collection. For Resort, Nichols turned her attention to South America's rich visual atmosphere. This inspiration brought about an explosion of kaleidoscopic florals and exotic feathers, found on fit-and-flare neoprene frocks and breezy jumpsuits ideal for a poolside party at Coachella. The statement-making graphics were a lot to process in those full-on looks; they felt a bit fresher broken up into separates such as playful polos, draped sarong pants, and off-the-shoulder crop tops that channeled The Girl From Ipanema. But the real news this season was Clover Canyon's new printing techniques. The vivid motifs had added interest when reinterpreted onto shimmery sequins or a fluttery eyelash fabric. Elsewhere, Nichols continued to explore different textures with embroidered organza tops and laser-cut scuba separates that came in a range of pretty—gasp!—solids. Another clever development was a series of patterned pieces that reversed to basic stripes, giving CC's contemporary customer more bang for her buck.
8 June 2014
For Clover Canyon's third anniversary, the brand headed (in spirit) back to Ireland. It's the place of designer Rozae Nichols' heritage, and it appears to be surprisingly lysergic, based on the designer's Fall collection. While Clover Canyon is known for its over-the-top patterns, this season's batch felt notably hallucinatory. Irish icons like Oscar Wilde, stained-glass windows, tartans, and the Book of Kells all got the kaleidoscopic CC print treatment. There were hysterically lime green meadows, unicorns and fairies, and even an appearance by Nichols' great-grandmother.The more successful propositions included a black overcoat with a flocked, distressed royal blue tartan print, and a relatively quiet trompe l'oeil frock where white curtains danced across a black background and over a field of crimson flowers. A worsted wool skirt that dissolved into airy lace was also nice, but it was overpowered by the rest of the ensemble. By the time a fluorescent rainbow set over roses on a velour fleece sweatshirt, the feeling was akin to having had too many bites of a particularly rich dessert. It didn't help that the collection was shown in presentation format, all the models standing on a lone mossy knoll in Lincoln Center's pavilion. Departing the room, the silhouettes of the clothes themselves faded away, leaving only a few acid-hued elements pulsating in their wake.
12 February 2014
It was World History 101 all over again at Clover Canyon, where designer Rozae Nichols presented a Pre-Fall lineup inspired by a recent trip to Greece. Mythological gods, philosophers, architecture, astronomy, and the nascence of democracy were just a few of the themes Nichols touched upon in her signature digital prints. That's relatively heavy stuff for fashion, but the results were decidedly lighthearted. As usual, Nichols worked with straightforward silhouettes to let the imagery do the talking. A long, linen bomber jacket was splashed with the visage of Athena, while black olives decorated neoprene crop tops and matching pencil skirts. Elsewhere, scrolling Ionic columns were screened onto wispy blouses and playful "gladiator" shorts with a pleated skirt panel in back, while novelty sweatshirts featured a graphic marbleized pattern. A series of easy day dresses (fluttery trapeze frocks and fitted scuba shifts) sprayed with Aegean seascapes and celestial maps stood out. Girls looking to go Greek will gravitate toward the one-shouldered number that resembled an ancient vase. Nichols took her theme and ran with it here, but she managed to stop short of costumey.
3 December 2013
Inspired by mid-century California artists and architects—from Dan Flavin to the Eameses—Clover Canyon designer Rozae Nichols went linear for Spring, favoring clean lines and a longer silhouette to showcase her signature prints. The influence of Flavin's fluorescent tubing could be seen in the palette of muted brights and in the futuristic, symmetrical print that divided a close-fitting, sleeveless dress. In desert oranges, yellows, and reds, with a patch of pale blue at the collarbone, it was what an avid reader of 1950s science fiction might imagine Mars to look like. More easily identifiable were the architectural blueprints (borrowed from a friend's firm) screen-printed onto linen. Too specific a reference? Maybe, but there's a stylish docent out there who's been waiting for a decent floor-plan skirt for years. Translucent organza apron skirts worn over neoprene mini-shorts were crafty and cool; depending on how you wear them, they could even be a little kinky. A Clover Canyon print is nothing to be messed with, but these pieces weren't aggressively in-your-face like other graphic-heavy labels out there. In other words: a little more California, a little less New York.
10 September 2013
With her focus on jubilant engineered prints, "every season is Resort at Clover Canyon," said designer Rozae Nichols at a showroom appointment. Cuba was the destination of the latest lineup, so she spliced together Havana-themed motifs like classic Caddy cars, cigars, tropical fruit, jute, and vibrant mosaic tiles—stretching and wrapping the images for a figure-flattering result. Per usual, the patterns did most of the talking, so Nichols kept the silhouettes relatively simple, adding the occasional flamenco-inspired flounce to the sleeves or hemlines of day dresses. Bomber jackets and cropped "sarong" pants gave the collection sporty appeal, as did the stretchy neoprene used throughout, notably on a strapless A-line frock and what was perhaps the most memorable piece: a novelty sweatshirt featuring a hand-drawn portrait of eccentric cigar-roller Mavis Toussaint Fuentes puffing away. For the most part, fashion seems to have moved away from the digital-print craze in favor of a more pared-down look, but according to Nichols, prints will always be the Clover Canyon medium, and she kept them looking fresh here.
22 May 2013
The hot rod from Clover Canyon's fictional Southwest road trip last season just racked up a few more odometer zeros. For Fall, designer Rozae Nichols took the brand to another oft-mythologized destination: Russia. Nichols lassoed symbols from the country's czarist and Soviet past; crystal chandeliers, housing blocks, formal china, metro stations, and frozen Siberian lakes all went into the dresses, coats, and tees. Slavic references have decorated a significant number of mood boards this season, but with its emphasis on prints engineered into stiff, corset-like tops and bell-shaped skirts, this collection owes more to the influence of Mary Katrantzou than it does to Mother Russia. Perhaps the California-based Nichols should stick closer to home base next season. These clothes looked too derivative for their own good.
12 March 2013