When faced with nothing to wear, most of us go shopping. But fashion designer Minnie Mortimer just heads to the drawing board. “When you can make anything you want, it’s hard not to make the things that you’re craving for your own wardrobe,” says Mortimer, who launched her womenswear label in 2007.
For her latest offerings, she wanted to create clothing that could keep pace with her busy bicoastal lifestyle, so she designed a collection of durable, day-to-night silk dresses. “A big motivating question was, Is this something I can wear straight from the plane to an event?” says the New York–born Brentwood resident. Her travel companions most often include her husband, Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, and their four-year-old daughter, Tuesday.
Also this season, Mortimer has partnered with California knitwear company Three Dots to devise a capsule line of Lycra and viscose-blend dresses. Revved up with Mortimer’s favorite bold colors and stripes, the 10-piece collection contains flattering silhouettes like a maxi, a shift and a knee-skimming number with side cutouts. “It sounds more risqué than it is,” she says. “The trick is it doesn’t show midriff—it shows rib cage.”
