Sassa Jimenez just released her new collection, and we’re obsessed.
In her signature whimsical, fairytale-like style, the colorful collection is rife with fluffy tops and doll-like dresses that evoke a vaguely retro, nostalgic aesthetic and yet isn’t stuck to a single time period. I’m particularly drawn to the Orange School Dress and the Number 1 Girl Puff Jacket—that delicate top in a light baby pink shade? Chefs kiss, adding to cart immediately.
What’s the designer’s favorite? “The long-sleeved button-down top with ruffles that comes in contrasting prints. It’s called the Outside Top and that one’s my favorite,” she tells us.
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“I decided to start the year on a cheerful note so I chose a lot of bright colors like lemon yellow, orange, bright pink and green,” says Jimenez about the collection. “I explored textures and prints that we don’t normally use in our clothes to keep things playful. The collection is called ‘Outside’ because after spending a year indoors I think we now have a renewed sense of gratitude and child-like wonder about the simple things we used to take for granted.”
Dreamy, romantic dresses have always been a staple on the runway, and more importantly in the internet age, on rose emoji aesthetic accounts that solely post images of ethereal women dressed like they only live in magical castles. But in quarantine, the internet’s obsession with this style skyrocketed with the rise of TikTok and cottagecore.
“Fantasies about the pastoral, lost innocence and future festivity converged in one diaphanous pink $490 garment,” New York Times writes about the infamous strawberry dress by Lirika Matoshi. It’s “a kind of romantic escapism from what feels like the endless frump of quarantine sweatpants,” NBC said. It wasn’t the only fanciful dress that took over the internet: Soon, TikTok started hyping up other fanciful dresses like the signature puffs by Selkie.
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What can we say? Anxiety about the pandemic and indoor isolation has ruined our brains, and we’ve all collectively turned to pretty dresses that help us escape, even for just a little bit, into a magical fantasyland where everything is made of silk and chiffon and we could live head empty with no consequences.
“I think whimsical fashion has always been very popular and alluring to most people though I have no doubts that the internet has nurtured that love for romantic pieces even more,” Jimenez says. It seems only apropos for her to release a new collection in the middle of this obsession, since fanciful, whimsical pieces have always been her calling card.
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Jimenez is also in partnership with Save the Children Philippines (SCP)—on her site, it says that “a minimum of 10 percent of earnings goes to SCP’s COVID interventions and Project ARAL campaign.”
What’s next for Jimenez? “I’ve been touching base with more creatives for collaborations in the future. I hope they all come into fruition because collaborations are fun and energizing to do,” she says. We can’t wait to hyperfixate on them when they come out.
Art by Neal Alday
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