Best-known as a celeb go-to for structured, stylish activewear and swimwear, Los Angeles-based Gigi C launches its first loungewear collection today. This new collection features recycled, Mongolian cashmere spun into a classic black and ivory palette, offered in four styles: the June half-zip, Jacqueline pullover, Aubrie wide-leg pant and the Alice jogger. Each style features Gigi C’s signature laser cutouts, translated from her activewear and swim collections into the brand’s new knits.
Part of the brand’s Resort 2022 brand expansion, 21-year old founder-designer Gigi Caruso envisioned Gigi C’s new knits to “meet our customer’s needs both on vacation and in their daily lives.” With this new collection, she hopes to become a “one-stop shop for all resortwear with the introduction of loungewear.” She continues, “The inspiration behind this collection was versatility. No longer just for lounging around the house, leisurewear needs to look as good on a coffee run as it does on the sofa. We wanted to design a collection that was luxuriously soft and comfortable, without sacrificing style.”
As for her design inspiration, Caruso shares that, “We're usually inspired by fabrics themselves. This loungewear specifically was always on the top of our list when we started into this new category. We wanted them to be worn as a point of relaxation and self-care, before or after a day of swimming in the sun or getting a good workout in.” In order to keep the Gigi C look in a new fabrication, the team decided to, “take our laser cuts that we're known for on swim and activewear and incorporate them into a teardrop stitch knitted on the outseam of the sleeves.”
When considering fabrication, Caruso kept sustainability and biodegradability top-of-mind. The brand’s mill partner is GRS-certified and when collecting both long and short cashmere fibers, it uses the long fibers for other clients and the short fibers, normally discarded, become recycled into yarn for Gigi C. The brand’s yarn supplier works directly with The Good Cashmere Standard whose rigorous certification process requires strict ethical standards in operations and conditions. These standards range from goat-keeping and shearing to combing and transport.
As far as where she envisions these new loungewear sets coming to life, Caruso shares that, “The whole team has said it's our next airport outfit! The pieces themselves are meant to be easy, comfortable, and casual, but still polished no matter where or what time of day you choose to wear them. The cashmere sets are soft enough to hang out at home yet sophisticated enough to wear in your day-to-day. When I dress it up, I typically style it with an oversized coat, tons of gold jewelry to match the gold zippers, and some chunky sneakers to emulate a sporty casual look.”
