lcvh x KARU

A few weeks late, but I've finally gotten a moment to relive the magic of our much-too-short summer escape to Puglia. As I'm sitting in Kiel wearing a beanie and sweater in 'summer', what better way to evoke a feeling of escape than out of my own clothes and into KARU - a brand I feel akin to in more ways than one. 

KARU is a textile and homeware brand founded by two of my closest friends, Fiona Mackay and Alexis Barrell, in 2016. Lifelong friends and both nomadic beings like myself, the two found themselves palavering over the definition of a 'sense of belonging' one afternoon. What cements a feeling of home once one settles into a new beginning? Herein lies the foundation of KARU. For obvious reasons, these themes resonate so closely with my own, what with meeting the challenge of raising my child far removed from the childhood scenes and sentiments that shaped me. As my son starts to respond and interact with the world around him, every day I am confronted with figuring out ways to convey my eclectic heritage and the salt-of-the-earth values that define me.  KARU plays on the romance of longing: deliriously hot days and nights in the desert where a crisp cotton sheet is all that is needed to toss and tumble into dreamland, then sleepily pulled over naked limbs in the cooler morning hours.  Puglia has elements of this African lifestyle: long sweltering days, resourceful country living and an energy of great nostalgia for bygone moments. At sunset on one of those balmy Puglia evenings, we went out among the wild vegetable garden and rooftops of Mazzeria Le Pezzate and put KARU in action.

The collection consists of textile homeware and furnishings, sleepwear and seasonal apparel, all made with an emphasis on sustainability throughout the whole production process. Textiles are blockprinted, stitched and quilted by hand, ensuring that each piece is a unicum.

Photography: Hannes Nockel /Art Direction & Layout Leonie von Hase / Shot on location at Masseria Le Pezzate