This is a story about finding your home within, connecting over shared values, spirituality and of course sustainable style that makes a difference...
It is a quiet hot and humid Sunday afternoon when my daughter and I arrive at By Adushka showroom. On the way we make a stop in Zurich to pick up the photographer and her two daughters: the three-months old Matilda and the 10-years old Fedora. A power girl team as usual.
Near the showroom at the bus station Inés Kelly joins the team for our photoshoot, intended to capture her work and talents as human design reader, astrologer and ceremonialist. This kind of work is not easily captured by the camera, as it has to do a lot with the soul and the spirit, the feminine energies and nature.
I often get asked how I get inspired for my stories and if I can share with you a secret - it is associative thinking. In this story we decided to use the powerful tool of fashion and style and of course nature as context.
But first thing first. If you don’t know yet, Inés writes monthly for By Adushka Editorial how women can work and live in alignment with the Moon cycles. She shares some useful tips, rituals and offers support how to understand our feelings and emotions during New and Full Moon times.
Beside an astrologer, Inés does many other things. She is a healer, and Human design Reader, who helps women reconnect with themselves and reach a new level of understanding and guidance when it comes to their purpose and living their truth.
Looking and analyzing their birth chart Ines guides women through the challenges of their life experiences, understanding their strengths and weaknesses better, develop more compassion about themselves.
Very often through her Human design readings women receive validation about the things they do and their passions and emotions. The results are powerful. Women start to live who they are without shame and guilt, with more compassions and understanding and of course intention.
To communicate that aspect of her work we chose to dress Inés and myself in Santa Lupita dresses, from the Healers collection which was inspired by the crave for balance, inner peace and healing arising during challenging times.
The return to nature, the emerging quest for "slower" and "more meaningful", an enforced self-esteem and the need to introspect and discover what really matters.
A big part of Inés work is helping women reconnect and live in alignment with nature’s four elements and the moon phases. Through ancient rituals, affirmations and mantras Ines takes you back to the connection you have with earth, with our planet and all the elements that exist in each one of you. For this expression of her we chose an outfit that consists of the Nomi vichy blouse, in a distinctive Japanese style and seersucker trousers in muddy brown.
At a first glance you might think these two pieces are hard to mix and match, but with her open heart and her sensual energy Inés wears them in perfect harmony, as water and air exist together with earth and fire, which in this outfit is represented by the belt, on the other hand am wearing beautiful linen dress from Nina Leuca that represents the earth through the craftsmanship and traditions used in making this dress.
The elements of water and air, are also very clearly part of that dress, light and breezy as air and made to be worn near the sea.
I am sure you can see who is the fire in that image. I often need to calm the fire in me with such kind of clothes who bring me to balance and harmony.
Finally, Inés not only works with women individually, but she likes to connect them and the feminine energy from around the world into her La Luna Circle, which is meant as your spiritual gym - a place you come to every two weeks to faciliate and support any inner shifts you are currently going through. It gives you the accountability you need to start a new shift in your spiritual practicies. It gives you the confidence you need to create ritual with ease.
To show this aspect of her work both of us chose to wear two gorgeous dresses, same design, same label, but different colours. In a way that represents how we are all connected, but these dresses are so Awe-striking that they felt like the perfect representation of the Goddess that hides inside of each one of us.
Both Inés and I agreed that fashion has one of those powers to unlock and set free the goddess inside, to unleash the authentic self and, if you have the courage, to let is tell your story, to share more than you can ever share about your inner world and powers.
The dresses we chose are new comers to By Adushka, but they are almost sold out by now with the exception of those two, as they were waiting for us....
And before I end my story I want to give you some context to all that happened on this Sunday afternoon.
Magic was in the air, because of the connection and creative energy we shared, because of the harmonious and peaceful setting at the showroom and because we were all such a strange crowd to the random eye: two young girls playing with a dog, a breastfeeding mum and a shamanic healer trying trying some glamorous summer pieces, talking about Taro Cards, Astro Dice and Palo Santo rituals. My feeling was that in that short moment, we were changing the narrative of what is expected from us as women, mothers and even business owners. We were breaking rules and making our own way and what put us together that afternoon was working and wearing by Adushka. We felt at home, we were at peace among our own kind of people. There was connection, joy and harmony, sharing the same values and speaking our truth through the clothes we were and are choosing to wear.
In many ways by Adushka clothes help us express and live our authentic personalities, own our stories, who we are and who we want to become. Starting to work with By Adushka a few years back taught me how to live and experience fashion, not just be a mindless consumer and follower of trends. It added depth and layers of living my own story, to the way I dress and express.
Working for By Adushka helped me slow down and change my buying habits, it added more awareness, intent and purpose to my decisions when it comes to my style and wardrobe.
Not to mention the sense of belonging and validation, of being understood and heard through the stories told by the brands curated within By Adushka.
