Meet the Designer Making Clothing That Celebrates Every Part of Fashion
8 Questions with Sheena Sood designer and founder of abacaxi.
This is "8 Questions," a monthly series highlighting the designers and founders creating great clothes that put people and the planet first.
Sustainability is typically marketed with buzzwords and bold green tags touting recycled fabrics or lower water usage. While those are important, we often miss that sustainability is also about the impact on people throughout the process. From farming to dying to cutting and sewing, that's exactly what Sheena Sood, designer of abacaxi, is thinking about when she makes her collections.
Her designs are brightly colored mixes of gorgeous dyes with details that give the garments a one-of-a-kind feeling. While creating these pieces, Sood works closely with the individuals who bring her designs to life. She supports regenerative farmers using indigenous techniques and takes notes from the weavers in Tamil Nadu, making the intricate knits that we see coming down the runway during her NYFW shows.
It doesn't end there, though. Her work is also about creating a lasting and unique piece for the people who wear it. Recently, Sood collaborated on jewelry with Ayesha Pirbhai Fardell, Elle Qui Vit jewelry designer. The collection highlights the best parts of her design aesthetic. It's colorful but adaptive and meant to highlight the wearer's individuality.
Courtesy of abacaxi
Below get to know Sheena Sood (did I mention she's also an amazing model?) and her brand abacaxi.
How did Abacaxi come to be?
In 2013, I returned from a month-long trip to India with a suitcase full of Rajasthani embroidered patches that I had collected. I had an opportunity to make some designs for a shop in Brooklyn, so I decided to make a set of silk dresses and blouses, each with a unique vintage patch on them. That was the first abacaxi capsule. It was winter in Brooklyn while I was designing the collection, and I started thinking about the warm, sunny days spent on a previous trip to Bahia, Brazil. I remembered the way fruit sellers on the beaches would sing out the name of each fruit: "aaaabaaaacaaaxiiii." I loved the word abacaxi, the Portuguese word for pineapple, and decided this symbol of good luck and hospitality, and a personal reminder of the lushness of the tropics, would be an apt name for the brand I wished to create.
If you had to describe Abacaxi using a song what would it be?
Drink Juice by Horsepowar
Or Deixa a Gira Girar by Os Tincoas
What is your brand ethos and how do you bring your customers into it?
Storytelling has always been an integral part of my work, and something I bring to the table via my background as a Visual Artist. Through abacaxi I wish to share stories and even messages from ancient wisdom through my collection concepts and the content we share.
Custom fabrics are another integral part of the brand and my process; all of my prints, embroideries, beadings, knit designs, and many of my woven fabrics are all custom textiles, often using natural dyes or other traditional techniques. My past research and knowledge on techniques from around the world (studies in Mexico, Peru, Indonesia, and India) are really put to use.
Courtesy of abacaxi
My approach as a designer is also to create garments that are lasting, multi-use, and that often have an adaptive quality to them. I have a natural tendency to design pieces that can either be worn several different ways, or are reversible, or have easy sizing that can fit multiple body shapes and genders. This is also connected to indigenous dress, which was always adjustable, meant to be used for a long time, and often multi-purpose. There is something inherently sustainable about traditional dress; the sari for me is the ultimate garment – one piece that can fit almost anyone. Inclusivity by design is very important to me and I keep this in mind while I put together each collection.
What is your first outfit memory?
Such a great question to ask designers. I remember this little mint, knit jersey dress I had in pre-school! My Mom put a line of different colored rhinestones down the center front of it. I actually remember going with her to buy the rhinestones, and how excited I was about the little craft/fashion project. I designed a few dresses in my line that are inspired by that linear, sparkly embellishment – the Shisha Linen Dress and Shisha Knit Slip. Something about the placement feels so elegant and so Indian to me. It’s evocative of the chakra points as well.
Do you have a favorite piece from your brand?
The faves are constantly changing but right now I’m loving the Tiered Tie-Strap Dress which is made with a handloom woven, plant-dyed, custom plaid fabric with small stripes of rainbow lurex mixed throughout the design. I am really proud of the textile development which was executed by talented weavers and natural dyers in Tamil Nadu, with Oshadi Collective, using 100% organic cotton. The idea was to use four plant-dyed yarns and create many different hues through the cross-weave, in a large color-blocked design. When I met the weavers in April this year they told me it was the most difficult design they’ve had to execute! But they were also excited and asked about the next challenge I had for them.
The Tiered Tie-Strap Dress is also my fave right now because it’s just a great and easy, breezy summer travel piece. I’ve been traveling a bit this summer and have been wearing it a lot myself with a pair of smocked bloomers or bike shorts underneath.
Is there a style philosophy that you follow?
I personally love color and am attracted to bright, offbeat color combinations, and I believe in the healing power of color. So part of my style philosophy is to dress with that in mind, as I feel color can be uplifting and really affect our mood and vibe.
Courtesy of abacaxi
If you had to pick a character from a movie that would wear Abacaxi who would it be and why?
Pooja from Kabhie Khushie Kabhie Gham! And Cher from Clueless. They’re basically both so similar (hilarious 90’s/Y2K style icons from my youth), both would be epic in abacaxi. There is so much 90’s and Y2K nostalgia in my collections and styling so I just thought of them immediately.
What’s your hope for the future of fashion?
I hope that the fashion industry can be a place where more independent designers who are creating sustainably can thrive and that consumerism shifts away from fast fashion. I feel it’s about getting used to buying less and investing in lasting pieces. I’m really inspired by what Oshadi Collective (one of the producers we work with in India) is doing—working locally and regeneratively and creating a very different fashion production system that is based on true sustainability. I hope the future of fashion looks more like that regenerative, holistic system based on ancient practices and techniques, updated with modern designs. That’s essentially what I’m trying to do with abacaxi as well. A true combination of ancient and current!
Read More 8 Questions!
Meet The Designer Making Functional Fashion Into Wearable Art
Meet The Upcycling Designer Making Forgotten Vintage Fabrics Chic Again
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Thank you for reading!!
This Stuff is a newsletter by me! fashion journalist, Alyssa Hardy. Three times a week, I unpack the ways our clothes impact the world through news, essays, interviews and more. Subscribe for free here and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
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