The moon and the countryside

I, Moon, want to tell you about the day I discovered a farm owned by a couple in the English countryside.

I illuminated them with my light. They were enjoying a dinner on the terrace while admiring the beauty of nature. He started talking about gardens and mentioned his love for landscapes. She decided to surprise him with a special gift.

While I was hiding behind the clouds, she began designing a unique garment and, inspired by her surroundings, used the wool from the sheep living with them until she created a garment that reflected the landscape that fascinated her husband.

She surprised him with her gift, and he was delighted with its beauty and the care she had put into every detail.

Over time, the fame of the garments designed by his wife spread by word of mouth, reaching the ears of important figures in the locality.

As I watched everything closely, I felt proud to see how the woman’s design had reached the top. Every night, I illuminated the sky so that she could design new garments and her husband could always look radiant.

One day, a fire devastated the couple’s farm, and the husband’s favorite garment was lost in the flames. Heartbroken, both thought they would never have something so beautiful again. However, that night I shone brighter and sent a beam of light that illuminated a small package that had remained safe in the house. Upon opening it, they found a new garment, made with love and dedication by the wife, who had not lost hope of creating something beautiful for her beloved.

Since then, the couple’s garments became famous all over the world, and I was always present, watching and guiding the woman who created unique garments made with love.

PROCESS

The Wright + Doyle fashion label is the result of a collaboration between designer Izabella Doyle and her husband, garden landscaper Matthew Wright. “There is a language between us,” says Izabella in an interview. “We are a society. He is Wright. I am Doyle.”

Both lead very particular lives. Since moving with their family to a small farm in the English countryside three years ago, their day-to-day routine has changed radically. Izabella says her day starts early with the care of the animals: Castlemilk Moorit sheep, a rare breed that does not require much human care.

“The sheep aerate the soil with their feet and feed on the grass,” says Izabella in an interview, “reducing the need for us to cut it manually. We don’t ever worm them unless obviously something goes wrong, we stay away from them, and once a year we use their wool. This is all happening on just twelve acres (5 hectares) without machinery, making it an ingenious way to harness these animals and keep the farm productive.”

After taking care of the animals, Izabella dedicates herself to her two children. It might sound like a complicated task, especially when it comes to dressing them up for school, but after a cup of coffee, she ensures that she is ready to start her day as a designer.

“Most of my collections start with art shows,” says the designer, who has more than 20 years of experience in fashion, about her creative process, “that’s usually where I find my inspiration. It never comes from the clothes or the practicality of wearing them. I love the cut; it is the key element for me. But where I always start is with something that inspires me or moves me, something that attracts me. Then I start with the fabrics and work on the mannequin, depending on the fabric. That is my process because I never draw; I only use the fabrics.”

For Wright + Doyle’s spring-summer 2023 collection, inspiration came from artist Carolyn McCall and her work creating large circle drawings using rocks and graphite. Izabella confesses that she did not know how to start this collection, so she decided to look for inspiration in the things that have always connected her with her environment, such as the sea and the rocks.

“I’d never met her before, but we were doing the same things. And the first time we spoke, we spoke for two and a half hours on the phone. Wow. It was like an automatic, amazing friendship with someone I’ve never met”, she says.

The result of the collection is quite athletic, and included in the lookbook was an image of McCall tied to a pole with an elastic band, running at full speed until she is stopped by the tension of the elastic. The collection includes secret details, such as hidden pockets, that reflect the brand’s unique design philosophy.

At Loona, we bring you the key pieces of this collection: a complete suit, pants, jacket, vest, shirt and skirt, all designed with the same attention to sustainability that characterizes the brand.

The suits, for example, are created with old French sheets. “The idea was to create a suit that would be easy for anyone to wear, like a gardener or even myself,” she says.

The vests are created with wool from her own farm, something that Izabella, from a distance, remembers as hilarious. “Matt and I would run after our sheep across the twelve acres of the property. The experience of trying to herd the sheep was difficult and comical at the same time: although I grew up on a farm with horses, cattle, and sheep, the local breed animals here are freer and more difficult to handle.”

The process of making these vests begins with shearing the sheep. Izabella and her family then take it upon themselves to clean the wool before taking it to a local company that spins it into yarn. Finally, a 70-year-old woman from the community knits each of the vests by hand.

The shirt is another fundamental piece in every collection, influenced by Izabella’s father, a tall and elegant horse trainer who instilled in her a strong attention to detail that characterizes her work.

The designer asserts that her father wore bespoke suits from Savile Row and beautiful shirts, which inspired her love for tailoring and well-made shirts and skirts: “They are a comfortable and easy-to-wear garment at any time, and they are an essential part of personal style, which is reflected in all collections. They are a key piece in design.”

Izabella knows that her creation process is not fast and that she cannot work with large amounts of clothing due to the time and work that each piece requires. But to her, quality and sustainability are more important than quantity. She is committed to creating fashion that is both beautiful and durable.

“One thing I always tell my friends is, please don’t buy anything unless you love it and can’t live without it. Because we all have enough stuff in our lives. We don’t need more of anything. And for this reason, when I design, cut, and choose fabrics, when I make pieces, I ask myself: Do I need this? Do I love it? Does it move me? Is it something I want to use now? In five years, ten years? Can I see the people and stores that buy it using it? Will they want it? Will Matt use it in the garden and destroy it? Will I use it? So everything I do and design has to go through that process.”

Through their collections, Wright + Doyle show us that fashion does not have to be a fast-moving product but can be a timeless work of art.