Have you ever found yourself in search of something as you enter a room, but you became distracted, and could no longer remember your original intent? Frustrating, right? But sometimes, if you just lean into this moment, you find exactly what you weren’t seeking. Designing a new collection works this way. Traci and I sketch, pass notes back and forth, to share what we are craving. I’ve come to realize, and embrace, that this is only a necessary first step – entering the “room”. Once you’re in there, the key is to let yourself go where you didn’t plan on going.
Last February, Traci and I travelled to Nashville, Tennessee. Why this city? We needed to get outside of our daily environment, to a place purposely contrarian to the one in which we reside. But here’s something I realized: you’re only a contrarian to the person who believes they are the arbiter of the norm. Or, in our case, the definition of style. But to yourself, you’re just simply you. Of course, my revered Dolly Parton comes to mind as I think of her as a “comfortable contrarian”. In her family, she may have been ‘just Dolly’. But to defiantly ‘be Dolly’ in a world of non-Dollys required a deep sense of curiosity and a visceral understanding of what worked for her. She’s one of my style icons for that reason.
Ultimately it was the unbothered and varied interpretations of beauty that hit hardest on our trip. Lyle Lovett, the city’s historic lineups at The Grand Ole Opry, Elvis, Dolly. They were all doing their thing, unconcerned with conforming to someone else’s idea of good or bad – they knew their people, they knew where they got their strength.
We do too.
The Spring 2027 collection takes the literal interpretation of these confident outliers’ style and refocuses it through our lens. Executed in a way that taps into the creativity inspired by our time away from home - yet still layered with all the pragmatism demanded by our lives. And that isn’t a compromise, it’s a good thing.
When the collection launches next year, it will mark our 30th year in business. I started Tibi in 1997 out of a tiny office just off the escalators at 76 Wellington Street in Hong Kong. And here we are today, still independent, and small by industry standards. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.