Alice Shirley

Alice Shirley, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Er, 25 at the moment.

Born in London the year I graduated high school, Alice Shirley began her relationship with Hermes in 2012 when she sent her Zebra Pegasus design unsolicited to la maison. Gotta love the bold move! That design was produced for the 2014 season, but my first Alice Shirley design was the Tyger Tyger cashmere shawl. It was the colors that pulled me in and as I studied the design I swooned at the foliage.

Still, I didn't spend much time thinking about her as a designer until Awooooo! introduced me to the wonders of the men's department. From there it was a slippery slope. I love the way she draws animals and trees, and the colorists at Hermes know how to bring them alive in so many colorways.

Ridiculously enough, I turned my nose up at DUJA, Into the Canadian Wild and Wild Singapore when they were in boutiques. At the time my knotting repertoire was fairly limited, but once I started expanding my horizons I had to backfill as much as possible.