When designers Raechel and Kalita (Rae and Kally) met, it was
evident that their dreams could no longer be pushed to the wayside.
The creative fusion between their two visions resulted in an
instant hit. After just two years, their resort-wear label has been
picked up by major league luxe e-com sites Matchesfashion, Moda Operandi and Net-a-Porter, and the designers have swung into
global success as their passion project catches the attention of
fashionistas worldwide. Whether jet-setting to exotic places or
going about their weekly routines in the city, their designs create
an instant chic and elevated look. From fabric quality to richly
coloured dyes and elegant silhouettes, each piece alludes to
sophistication and thoughtfulness.

The designers sat down with SUITCASE and shared the ins and outs
of their production practices, their global lifestyles and the flow
of inspiration in their creative partnership.

Name:

KALITA

Designers:

Raechel Temily and Kalita al Swaidi

Origin:

London

Homebase:

Rae lives between Bali and New York, Kally lives
in London.

Type of brand:

Womens’ resort wear.

Where can we find your designs?

Right now you can find our MUSE collection for High Summer on
Matchesfashion and Moda Operandi. Next season we’re also launching
with Net-a-Porter globally and Harvey Nichols in London.

Who is the ideal KALITA customer?

It’s been an interesting learning curve because the KALITA woman
really found us, as opposed to us deciding who we wanted our
customer to be.

Our clients are quite discerning, have a very clear idea of how
they want to look and feel. They’re not afraid to be noticed. The
clothes aren’t fussy or complicated – the silhouettes, while
dramatic, are actually very minimal and pared back.

When you wear KALITA all eyes are on you, for the right reasons.
It’s really a way of living, being and moving through the world.
The clothes are for women who want those wow-factor moments. We
recently heard it described as “destination wear”, which is exactly
on point.

Three words to describe KALITA’s aesthetics…

Strong. Inspirational. Memorable.

Where are you each from and how did you end up in Bali and
London?

Kally: I’m a Londoner through and through
although my ancestral heritage is Texan-Iraqi, which makes for a
firecracker of a family background. I live in
Chelsea now, and truly, I still think London is the best city
in the world – but maybe I’m biased.

Rae: I’m Australian, though I haven’t lived
there for years now. The whole Antipodean experience often seems
very far away, both metaphorically and literally. I moved to Bali
about six years ago – it’s one of those islands that is just really
hard to leave. It’s a very special place. My home there is the
utopian island dream: a thatched alang-alang roof, white painted
wood, palm trees, open air-kitchen with a basket of young green
coconuts in the corner waiting to be cracked, outdoor bathroom with
a bamboo pole for a shower and a family of fat green frogs that
share the bath. It’s always hard to leave when it’s time to head
back into the rest of the world again.

Describe your relationships with travel…

Kally: I’ve always travelled with my family, so
I’ve been fortunate to see quite a lot of the world. There are
certain places I really love though. I always try to make time to
go back to them each year.

Ibiza is one of my all-time favourites – I love it so much that
I spend my birthday there every year. I really love Miami too. We
just came back from spending a few days there and the Latino energy
is just so invigorating, I love the effervescence of it. And of
course, now that the brand is developed and designed in Bali,
that’s somewhere that feels a part of me now. I am deeply familiar
with the London to Bali bounce these days!

Rae: I’m a total gypsy in many ways so I’d
describe my relationship with travel as seasoned. Sometimes it
feels like I spend more time on planes and in airports than I do
anywhere I actually live. I always have suitcases on the floor in
varying states of being packed or unpacked – it’s almost comical,
like musical luggage for the trip I’ve just come home from or about
to go on. The customs officials at airports tend to raise their
eyebrows when they see my passport.

Before we started the brand, I spent the past few years working
in Southeast Asia – travelling to far-flung outposts of the
Indonesian archipelago to document the regional food culture,
consulting on culinary content for celebrity chefs, doing interior
and food styling in some pretty amazing locations. So you could say
travel is part of my DNA.

Where and by whom are your designs made?

Rae: We do most of our design and development
in Bali. We also hand-dye all of our custom colours there because
they are magicians when it comes to achieving the bespoke hues we
want in our pieces.

Colour is one of our signatures. Our fabrics are hand-dyed –
which is no easy task when some of our dresses have six or even ten
metres of fabric in them. A lot of our pieces are cut on the bias,
which is a nightmare for fabric consumption, but results in the
most sublime silhouettes.

We’ve recently just branched out to start producing some of our
more involved pieces in India, as the workmanship and attention to
detail with hand finishing and certain techniques is amazing. We
know that manufacturing needs to be anchored to sustainability and
conscious consumerism will continue to expand and grow so we work
very hard on that front. For us, this is not a marketing sound bite
to sell clothes, but an intentional choice so we can be proud of
what we do and how we produce our clothing.

It isn’t a side issue anymore and it’s one that has to go beyond
just a code of best practice. Every single fashion label in the
world should be looking to champion and contribute its weight,
however humble, to the global opportunity we have to improve
production practices.

Everyone can make a difference through their ideas. We’re all
change makers. Whether it’s through what we’re making and putting
out into the world, or what we’re buying and wearing.

Best time of year to visit Bali?

October
and November
are great months to come.

How should we spend 24 hours in Bali?

Rae: Coffee at Revolver Espresso in Seminyak to start the day. Then
head up to Ubud for some time in the jungle. Hang upside for
mid-morning flying yoga in the bamboo yoga shala at the Four Seasons Sayan. A raw lunch at Como Shambhala before a dip in their river
pools. Stay the night at Bambu Indah, Elora Hardy’s fairytale
bamboo sanctuary – ask for the new treehouse room they have by the
Sayan River.

When and where did you all meet?

Kally: We met in London through mutual friends
about two and a half years ago. Our connection was immediate, but I
think it’s safe to say that neither of us knew what lay ahead in
terms of the creative path we were going to take together.

How did you decide to launch a brand together?

Kally: I was finally ready to start a label, so
the timing was quite serendipitous.

Rae: I remember meeting Kalita and having her
pour out all of her ideas to me and just immediately clicking with
her. I’d thought about doing a resort-wear brand for a long time,
but had also put it off – pretty much indefinitely – until that
elusive day came where it just felt right. So Kalita’s vision for
creating a brand was actually quite a good fit for the two of us,
even though I don’t think I realised what a force she can be when
she has her heart set on something.

Kally: Rae basically said to me “Well, if you
want to work together and really do this, you’ll have to come to
Bali to get started.” I don’t think she thought I’d really show up.
But fast-forward a few weeks later and there I was!

How do you balance your two creative visions?

We share a creative vision for the brand and are always on the
same page when it comes to developing new ideas, designing new
collections, and what we envisage for the creative direction of the
brand each season.

What are the difficulties of working in two different
countries?

Kally: Living and working in different
countries is a challenge, without a doubt. Especially as we’re
working across more than two different countries – our office is in
London and our design workshop is in Bali, but Rae is often in NY
these days, and sometimes India. We’re definitely running a global
company these days!

We’re rarely in the same city, or even the same country, at the
same time. Different timezones can make communication tricky,
because our working days only overlap for a brief time. It’s also
actually one of our strengths as a small start-up, because it means
our business runs on a 24 hour schedule – when Rae is finishing her
work day in Bali, our London office is just opening.

We’ve learnt to adapt though – thank you Whatsapp and Slack!

How does KALITA differentiate itself from other brands on the
market?

Kally: I think people have this perception of
resort-wear brands as being kaftans and bright prints, basic cover
ups in flat, cut-out shapes or “holiday” clothes you’d never wear
in the rest of your life. That’s the antithesis of what we’re
about.

We’re also making clothes that aren’t easily boxed into that
“holiday wardrobe” genre. You’ll definitely want to take KALITA
with you when you’re off to a destination event, or travelling to
some far-flung exotic place where you want to take amazing photos.
But when you get home, you’ll still want to wear that dress. You
might pair it with a leather jacket and ankle boots, or over a
cropped white tee with a pair of trainers, but you’ll still be
wearing it. That’s really what makes us different.

Your Resort 17 collection was titled “I left my heart in St
Barths” – how do you continue to be inspired by your travels?

Our newest collection for Resort 2018 (in stores October) is
called Ithaca.
Ithaca was the island home of Odysseus. It’s inspired by the poem:
As you set out for Ithaca / Hope your road is a long one / Full of
adventure / Full of discovery.

It’s about a homecoming of the spirit. It raises a different set
of questions in us, which can really change things. That’s what
Ithaca is about. It’s a real little Greek island but it’s also a
place to travel within yourself.

As travellers, how do you adapt your style according to your
destination?

Kally: Rae and I are always packing and
unpacking, and the clothes we bring have to be versatile and
practical for a lot of different situations.

Evening dresses that are wrinkled from being in a suitcase need
to steam easily in a hot shower and silk pieces need to look
elegant when you have to go straight to dinner. Our ethos is very
much grounded in not just the resort aesthetic, but also in
practicality and versatility – it’s meant to be that definitive
travel wardrobe.

Must have style from High Summer 17?

Kally: One of my favourite pieces from MUSE is
the Clemence gown in pale kale – it has a three quarter sleeve and
a dramatic V-back. I also really love the Zephyr pinafore in
lemonade cotton poplin – it’s the perfect dress to throw on over a
sleek one piece when you’re on holiday.

Rae: I wear the Avedon days maxi skirt in white
all the time. Sometimes paired with a shrunken tee during the day,
or with the bow tie top at night for a more pulled-together look.
Oh, and the balloon jumpsuit in bright raspberry – this is probably
my favourite piece ever!