Get to Know: One/Of by Patricia Voto
Quietly during the pandemic, designer Patricia Voto debuted her eponymous, sustainably minded women’s ready-to-wear line, One/Of by Patricia Voto, in New York City. Voto’s line is unique in its upcycled approach to seasons: instead of churning out new collections on a calendar basis, the designer thoughtfully sources high-end deadstock fabrications until she has enough to create a new capsule.
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“We only work with existing qualities, so a lot of it is about sourcing and partnering with suppliers. We find the fabrics in all sorts of ways, whether a brand is discarding it or a mill has it sitting in their archives, or we find it locally. When we feel that we’ve somehow managed to find enough fabrics that feel like a collection, that’s when we start designing into it,” Voto said during a collection preview in New York City.
Voto, who cut her teeth at Gabriela Hearst, Altuzarra and Brock Collection, focuses on easy, versatile and polished (but not overly tailored) silhouettes. For instance, her latest spring collection, titled “Lost & Found,” includes feminine matching skirt sets, tailored top coats and cropped jackets, wrap tops, a handful of special knits and dresses from day to night.
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Each “collection” is made up of repeated timeless, bespoke silhouettes reworked into the new seasonal fabrications, which are then offered direct-to-consumer in limited quantities. Voto and her team work closely with each customer to size and design each made-to-order garment selected online, making each piece a “one/of” experience.
“Some of the pieces we only make one, others we make up to 20. When people reach out, we’ll invite them to the studio to design the pieces, then we will invite them back to alter it. It makes it a bit of a longer process, not like your overnight Prime situation, so you have to wait for it but it’s designed with a lot of intention. We make it so it’s a collaboration,” she explained, later adding, “I think people feel they can come here and build a wardrobe.”
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