Can you feel it?

Spring is in the air, summer is upon us, and vacations may be on the agenda. One thing we know for sure, we are excited to infuse some color and print (and spring weather) into our lives. One of our favorites ways to do that is dropping a colorful collection in collaboration with Cassie Freeman of Hi Sugarplum! We are so excited to announce the launch of our Gibsonlook x The Happy Place Collection. This collection launches this Wednesday, March 24th, so stay tuned for more but read on for an exclusive insider peek at the process behind the collections. 

In the past, we've dropped early spring RESORT collections toward the end of January. These colorful early spring season collections dropped in the middle of winter. They accelerated the excitement and helped transition our closets perfectly from season to season, so theyve always been fan favorites (see a few restocks here).

 Last year in August, just as summer was coming to a close and we headed into colder weather. We began our planning for Spring 2021, we were convinced we'd still be wearing our favorite cozies in January. That prompted us to launch some very fun January Elevated Casual Cozies (linked here--and on sale--in case you're curious) and postpone the January Resort collection. As much as we all love COZY, we wanted to make sure we found a time to launch these fun Spring /Summer Collections. So we decided we'd drop a new SPRING RESORT; now called The HAPPY PLACE collection, in March. In October, just as we were releasing holiday collections, our ideating and planning began.

So begins the process....the first steps in designing a collection are preparing high-level inspiration boards and gathering ideas. These get everyone involved and set the mood and mindset for the the first design meeting. This is when we landed on the theme, The Happy Place. Our designers pulled the collection inspiration from vintage Slim Aarons Palm Springs photographs. The juxtaposition of escape and nostalgia inspired the concept and designs. It made it easy to imagine and find all our bright, cheery moments to create our Happy Place and happiest memories. These fun images are just a few but you can see where our prints came from and why we chose the colors we did.  

Inspiration from Gibsonlook Design Team 

We now fondly refer to our process as distance designing; we engage in many calls and meetings over Zoom. In the first presentation, Gibsonlook designers declared how Spring 2021 would be about finding Happy, doing what you love, and wearing what you love. They reimagined past favorites, which aligned with the nostalgia. We love nostalgia (and bestsellers), but we were determined to update them and make exciting new styles in happy prints and colors with added details. We envisioned cheerful mix and matched pieces in HAPPY colors made in our soft, signature flowy fabrics. We can't wait to share the results!! 

On these calls was Cassie of Hi Sugarplum, our Gibsonlook Founder, our Creative Director, and Designers. The following calls included an incredible amount of print options, fabric swatches and samples--and FedEx at our doors on the daily (making our dogs go crazy!). Cassie excitedly tries on every piece, provides feedback and ideas, and reviews the drawings and color layouts with enthusiasm and great views. We go back and forth on perfecting colors, prints and deciding what outfits will mix and match to build a collection we are all proud to drop. We applied the theme and inspiration, and images to joyful prints and bright seasonal colors. Some of those prints are redesigned more than a few times. Our graphic team pulls through every time to get us unique exclusive patterns and color combinations. 

We rounded out the collection with memories of our first Spring Resort photoshoot in a favorite location, Palm Springs! The team expands during the photoshoots to include the talented work of friends Val Darling, our photographer for every collection drop with Cassie Freeman, and talented make-up artist, Suzie Moldovan of Flybrow. The serene images of poolside leisure, bold colors, and large breezy palms against the desert blue sky with sunshine all around invoked HAPPY. They brought the vision of the collection full circle. We think it's now a bit easier to imagine the months ahead, and we're thrilled it's almost time to share this unique collection with you!

Photos courtesy of Valorie Darling Photography 

This collection is proudly designed in collaboration with Cassie Freeman of Hi Sugarplum! It is brought together by a team of people passionate about making these collections and memories unforgettable. We love working with Cassie; she is passionate about her input and ideas and is involved in many steps of the process. Her creativity and ideas are what make these collections reflect her unique style and vision. 

Please mark your calendars and join us on this happy journey routed in our collaboration history as we look forward to Happy moments in the sun. 

 --Gibsonlook