The slightly smudged alphabet printed on a long strip of paper in Anisa Makhoul’s basement studio stops us in our tracks. We’d seen the same alphabet, lowercase, cross-stitched, printed on the fabric the yoke of a cream jersey top and the waistband of cute updated 70s track shorts (with piping) when her Makool spring line debuted at the STRUT fashion show recently. Did designer Makhoul print the fabric herself?
“I kind of have a rule,” says Makhoul. “I don’t use other people’s prints.” She’s sewn for years, but Makhoul is first a fine artist, a printmaker with a BFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. And she’s brought her printmaking to fabric, designing and producing Makool in SE Portland since 2000. One of her popular wrap dresses featured a large non-repeating print of Queen Anne’s Lace on the skirt.
Her 2007 spring collection features fewer prints than we’re accustomed to seeing from Makool. She focused instead on shape: cute dresses, tops, often embellished with little rows of pleated jersey ruffle, and the short shorts which also turn up in a great pair of short overalls in a mattress-ticking stripe. And Makhoul this time incorporates a number of great details, like the red mini-epaulettes on the chocolate-milk colored mini dress, and the buttonhole stitch detail on the shorts. And while the collection represents a great next step in the evolution of the line from its cute-tops beginnings, there’s still the “alphabet top” handprinted by Anisa in a basement in SE. See her whole line at her website.
Also worth mentioning: Makool is very accessibly-priced. It’s something Makhoul thinks matters, something she struggles to maintain. So you’ve no excuse not to go straight to Makhoul’s recently launched webshop, Makool Loves You where she sells work by Makool and other designers at www.makoollovesyou.com.
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