First of all, this is the best damn hangtag I ever did see, and if you buy a piece of the Serena Mitnik-Miller collaboration with QSW you can have your very own hangtag (for free!).  I know, for some, it’s just a little piece of paper…but for me, it’s a beautiful little painting with texture, color and poetry…just like this collaboration!  I walked around the studio with one of them attached to the belt loop of my jeans for a week…yes, I really did.

I’m not sure what can be said about our collaboration with Serena Mitnik-Miller that has not already been told.  Ultimately the product speaks louder than the words, but I must mention that this has been the dream collaboration.  Originally I was just hoping to bring Serena’s amazing taste level and signature watercolor aesthetic into the collection, but over the last year and a half (we first met in early 2010 at her shop, the General store, in San Francisco), Serena and I have bonded over quite a similar love of all things vintage, artisanal and hand crafted.  I see her almost every month scouring the isles at the Rose Bowl flea market and we’ve been hanging out at her new communal construction site tucked back into Topanga canyon.  We’ve even managed to sneak in a surf at Malibu a couple weekends back!  Bottom line, we’re buddies now.  And even though I told her I would never show anyone all my iphone pics behind the scenes at her studio, I feel confident enough that she’ll still talk to me after this blog post (fingers crossed)!

The above was the original mood-board that inspired our QSW designers, Annika & Megan, as we kicked off this design process.  This collage is a combination of vintage clothing we pulled out of Serena’s closet, tears from magazines, images from the General Store and the Outer Sunset neighborhood and Serena’s original paintings she did specifically for this collaboration.

And here are a few of my favorite items…I have Serena’s print of the 100% silk Petal Paisley dress that inspired it next to me in my studio so it’s definitely a favorite!!!  The Sea of waves tee is one of those pieces I made Serena do ’cause I know people love this signature style of hers!  The Neighborhood cardigan is a complicated jacquard sweater pattern that was inspired by Serena’s colorful reclaimed, wooden, hand-painted blocks, which I have on my desk. The Arrow tee is also a classic ’cause Serena’s little geometric geodes remind me of the “reverse-stop-play” buttons on an analog cassette deck – remember those?  And last but not least, is the silk chiffon Diamond dress.  There is a very small lurex yarn running through this featherweight fabric that creates just a little glisten of light within Serena’s hand-painted diamonds.  Sort of like the energy emanating from the new pieces of artwork she sends us every season.  Snatch the above while you still can, and get ready for some more Serena / QSW love in seasons to come!

Anyone who knows me well has to endure my “pocket documentation” of literally every phase of the creative process with my iPhone.  I think I started this before the Apple kids from Capitola got me to fork out a few hundred bucks every year to stay connected, but it has sure become a lot easier since.  This means two things…

1. My images are usually blurry (my sincere apologies…although the new iPhone 4 is getting better and better)

2. And I have a stockpile of thousands of images of every creative journey I have taken in the last three years.

So the later will come in handy for my Quiksilver posts.  It’s tricky blogging about real-time fashion, when the design process is actually already a year-and-a-half ahead.  I’m working on Autumn’12 and we haven’t even delivered Autumn ’11. So I’ll use this blog forum to continually look back on the creative sparks, inspiring events and “beachie” brainstorms that led up to the current season you should be rushing to your local surf shop to snatch up.  So let’s start with the events of Feb, 10^th 2010 at the Laguna Surfing Heritage Museum. Looking back, this is probably the single most influential spark in the direction of our creative process for Quiksilver.  We had the mind-blowing pleasure of listening to Simon Buttonshaw relay, in his own words, the creation and history of Quiksilver.  Simon doesn’t like labels or titles, but let’s just say that he was “there” on day one, and today he’s the artistic epicenter of the brand and a constant source of inspiration and guidance.

Throughout the colorful dialogue, Simon used Quiksilver’s boardshorts to illustrate the different artistic phases in Quiksilver’s heritage from day one in 1969. We literally looked at the earliest canvas styles that the surfing heritage museum had collected all the way through to present day…decades of original art, product innovation and genuine soul.  The best words Simon spoke on this day were…”“THE ART WAS OK…WHAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT WAS DESIGN INNOVATION, NOT DECORATION…DECORATION IS THE DEVIL”   Finer words never spoken…and this quote adorns the opening spread of our original Quiksilver concept book.

Simon talking shop on Feb 10th, 2010 at the Laguna Surfing Heritage Museum. (This is my George Greenough moment)

A few of the days distinguished “guests”

Simon Buttonshaw at the 1970 World Titles, Bells Beach

Is it just me, or is Dane Reynolds wearing our Kimono Blouse top below??? OK, so I might be wrong, but it does bear an uncanny resemblance, right???

So besides the time I spend on the QSW blog (not much lately, my apologies), I do have other pursuits. The daily search for inspiration takes me to many places, but I always find time to sneak a peek at Dane Reynolds Marine Layer Productions. So imagine my surprise the other day, when I found Dane and his girl paying their respects to Japan with this lovely and very original rendition of Louie Louie.

I mean, everyone knows I’m a kid in a candy store at Quiksilver, but this one took me by surprise. We sort of hoped we would get Dane’s girl in some clothes, but Dane himself in the Kimono Blouse…come on!!! Dane Reynolds!!! Just a thought Dane, but I bet if you bang out another rendition in the Story Maxi, you’ll really set the keys on fire (Although I must agree that the Kimono Blouse was the perfect ensemble for this noble endeavor). Seriously, all kidding aside, thanks for the continued inspiration and for feeling so in touch with your inner female. Another care package is in the mail…

After more than a year of developing our first collection, it all became a crazy reality for me over the weekend!  You can imagine my excitement when I clicked onto Surfline on Saturday to see Steph Gilmore rocking the Sea Stripe Henley on land and the Echo Check Vibrations in the water.  Super natural  talents, beauty and creativity…it’s ON!

Photo: ASP / Kirstin

- John Moore, Quiksilver Women’s head designer

So this is officially my first post on Quiksilver women’s blog and I have been trying to figure out where to begin.  Firstly, it’s a crazy honor to be here.  I feel like a kid in a candy store or a grom at a surf comp…  I’ve literally grown up my entire life captivated by the athletes, images, events, surf stories, legends and lore that is Quiksilver and now I get to be on the same site as Stephanie Gilmore, Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds. I get to hear stories from legends like Simon Buttonshaw and Lisa Andersen and it’s all in the name of inspiration and creativity.  Honestly, I keep pinching myself ‘cause it seems too good to be true.  So where to begin??? How ‘bout the earliest boardshort in the Quiksilver archives…

Check out this yellow boardie that was handed to me on day one.  It predates the Mountain & Wave logo that we all know today.  I have heard a few different stories as to where the “Original Creations” Swan (or duck, or birdie) came from, but let’s just say that the entire design team fell in love with the spirit of this original boardshort and you’ll see the swan turn up in different ways throughout the collection.

- John Moore, Quiksilver Women’s head designer