Introducing ‘Fire Five: An Interview with St. Agni’
Fire Five is our latest journal feature in which we interview the brilliant minds behind our favourite brands and retailers. We’re very excited to begin this journey and take you along with us as we dive deeper into the energy behind our favourite brands and retailers.
Beloved Byron Bay luxury brand, St. Agni, was founded in 2014 by Lara and Matt Fells. Built from humble beginnings, St. Agni is a lifestyle brand that produces handmade leather footwear, apparel, and accessories. The brand was created with a vision to create functional, refined, quality pieces that Lara couldn’t seem to find elsewhere. Their most recent collection, La Forme, embodies the concept of creation, a salute to natural earth formations and made for strong, independent women. The collection celebrates ‘the form’ through the structure of their pieces, remaining true to the ethos of minimal design, natural materials of bamboo, linen, silk and vegetable dyed leather.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Co-founder and Creative Director Lara Fells and Head Designer Erika Toscano about the ‘La Forme’ collection. These two beautiful humans design each St. Agni collection, imbuing each piece with their positive energy and intention.
Get to know the visionaries behind St. Agni to connect even further with the brand and the intention behind their creations.
What was the inspiration behind the La Forme Collection?
La Forme was inspired by the earth and the beauty if has to offer, the natural formations it has created, and the rich colour palette it has to offer. We wanted the collection to feel empowering and strong, while still feeling feminine and soft – trying to find harmony between the two. This collection is the first that Erika and I worked on together, and it is the start of our collaborative journey creating collections. I can see this in the collection – both of our personalities in each piece.
The concept of the collection was really based around shapes and silhouette’s. We made all of our samples in white and then we worked on the textures and colour palette together.
What fabrics did you use in the collection and why did you choose these?
We love working with natural fabrics – this is something very important to us. We were drawn towards using cotton, silk, and linen for the La Forme collection, while also incorporating key sustainable fabrics such as Bamboo, Tencel, and Alpaca.
What are your top five pieces from the collection?
Lara
Erika
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- Taille Blazer in Couer +Franco Pants in Couer worn as a set
- Forme Dress
- Gia Knit Dress and Enzo Knit pants in Cocoa worn as a set
- Gulliver Slide in Black
- Taille Blazer in Honey + Amo Trousers in Honey worn as a set
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How do you wear St. Agni?
We love seeing how different people style St. Agni and how they interpret the pieces.
Lara: I would consider myself a uniform dresser – I like to buy pieces that I know I can wear again and again. Each season I’ll always invest in a new suit set, pair of slides, and key basics that I can pair back with my existing wardrobe. I keep my colour palette neutral – I find it easy and chic to keep things simple.
Erika: I love to wear set pieces, same colours, textures and prints! I love wearing pieces that people are afraid to wear and breaking up dressy pieces with casual shoes and vice versa.
What is your hope that the St.Agni woman feels when wearing the collection?
Firstly, we want St. Agni to feel inclusive so all women feel invited to be a part of the St. Agni world. We also want St. Agni to encourage customers to feel confident and comfortable within themselves – this is integral to the St. Agni ethos and what we create.
