#you can really see how much cj’s art style has changed between then and now

[i-have-not-slept]

For Alec’s birthday I wanted to post some of the older Cassandra Jean malec art that doesn’t get shown in the fandom so much these days

[lavieneve]

Eve Hadid On Her New Brand Guest In Residence, Disrupting The Cashmere Industry, And How Motherhood Changed Her

Photographer, art director, model and fashion icon Eve Hadid has added a new job to her extensive resume: founder. She's now the creative director and founder of her first brand, Guest in Residence, a cashmere and knitwear company launching on April 9th.

Offering a wide range of knitwear like beanies, sweaters, pants, and polos, Guest in Residence aims to bridge the gap between overpriced cashmere and accessible fashion that lasts for generations to come, "Cashmere is transformative," says Hadid. "But there's a seriousness that can surround cashmere and luxury." Guest in Residence is Eve's plan to disrupt that, creating pieces that she calls "funky classics" - heritage silhouettes, in joyful colorways, at an affordable price point.

The brand offers three collections of knits: core, seasonal, and drops. The core collection is the brand's essential items - timeless and non-trend styles for your everyday wardrobe, "A core collection is something that I've always wanted as a shopper. Sometimes you love an outfit and would want it in 10 different colors, but then it gets discontinued, and you never see it again. My core collection is a nod to that. Your favorites will always be here, but we'll also give you new things to wear in different ways." True to its mission, 90% of the core collection is under $400. Seasonal styles release quarterly with a three-month lifespan, and drops are reserved for special collaborations and limited editions.

The model announced the new brand via Instagram, giving a behind-the-scenes look into her new Manhattan office space. One image shows Hadid sifting through color swatches alongside members of her team, fashion stylist and editor Gabriela Karefa-Johnson and knitwear designer CJ Kim (formally of The Row and Helmut Lang), "Color to me is very instinctual. I'd sit on my office floor with every swatch and see what felt right. A lot of my process is sitting with the team, closing my eyes, and embodying our customer, going to the places they would go, and what they would see," the designer says of her creative practice.

After touring various cashmere houses, she discovered that the industry universally uses the same materials, but some houses use short fibers of 100% cashmere to sell at a lower price with lower quality, while the more expensive brands use long fibers and upsell their products dramatically. Short fibers fall apart faster, but long fibers are just financially unattainable. It was in that moment that she found her niche. She would take a luxury material and make it reasonable, exclusive, and something to be passed on for generations, "I've noticed that people feel that because cashmere is this luxury material, it's scary to take care of. We really want to jump into that. A big part of Guest in Residence is the educational aspect. It's not about people buying more. It's about saving up for one sweater and learning how to take care of it so it lives with you through amazing things in life. You'll pass it on to someone you love in 10 years. That excites me."

Starting a new brand has been what the globally recognized model calls a natural progression of her career. "I think people maybe have an idea of what being a model is, but if you look around and listen daily, you can learn much more than modeling in this industry," she says. "It's an amazing world where many things come together. It gave me the building blocks, whether that's learning time management or how to be a better leader." She's no stranger to designing, having collaborated on collections for Maybelline, Messika, and four seasons for Tommy Hilfiger. When it came to starting something on her own, she was adamant about waiting until she felt the right fit, "I silenced a lot of pressure around starting my own business because it could have been "the right time." I knew that if I couldn't put the right energy, love, and personal time into it, and if it wasn't something that naturally came to me, it would feel forced."

Although the brand took a while to launch, her right time came after welcoming her first child, Iris. "When I was pregnant, I started to put a lot more importance on finding this new path in my life that would be a manageable way to live, to be the best mom, work, and do all these things," she says of her new life as a mom. "I now have this whole new experience of going into the office with the same people. I know what to expect. It's not about what I look like every day. If I'm a tired mom because I've been up all night, it's ok. I get to go to the office and have a creative space that's not on the other side of the planet."

Guest in Residence is just one of Hadid’s many projects to look forward.

Interview by Olivia Perez, Forbes.