The Secret Lives of Small Pleasures

The Secret Lives

of

Small Pleasures

words by Zoë Kendall

IMAGES by Marina Denisova

The past months have seen a shift in pace for many of us. We circle our routines more tightly and our homesteads more closely; the hours stretch out languidly between morning and night; time doesn’t run on, it strolls. This slower pace, however, affords us the opportunity to reflect more closely on our daily lives. It allows us to rest, for a while, upon the simple, quiet moments that are often overlooked in the usual bustle and rush. These hidden bits of joy are what we refer to, colloquially, as life’s small pleasures. And they’re to be found everywhere. 

Much of the time, these small pleasures are woven into the fabric of our day-to-day. They might be a part of our daily rituals: the liquid caress of a warm shower or the cozy calm of reading in bed. They can also be wrapped up in our most familiar surroundings, like our kitchens (the salty-sweet taste of popcorn) or our backyards (the honey-glow of sunset). Sometimes they’re moments we’ve stolen, like sleeping in long past our alarms and staying up into the night. Other times, they find us, seemingly at random. Sometimes they’re rarities and novelties, occurring only once in a blue moon or for a special occasion. Most of the time, however, they’re fleeting: we savour them for a moment and then they’re gone. 

Rosée polo in Matcha.

Our latest capsule collection is a meditation on these small pleasures. Through it, we’ve distilled the essence of these ethereal, intangible moments into something more permanent and tangible: garments to enjoy whenever and forever. 

Crafted from featherlight cottons, viscoses, and linens, the collection’s range of textural patterns are tiny tactile delights in themselves, made for running your fingers over. Wavy rib knits capture the undulating flow of the ocean, recalling the scent of seabreeze and the soothing murmur of waves. Elsewhere, the papery folds of origami figurines find themselves in a pleat-like stitch that springs forth across skirts and shirts.

The palette, too, is a spectrum of little joys: the eggshell white of breakfast-time, hardboiled, perched in a silver cup, and cracked with the back of a spoon; the matcha green of afternoon tea, whisked slowly and steadily into steaming water; persimmon orange and lemon yellow, heaping over the edges of a wooden fruit bowl; and the transparent grey of an ice cube fogging up a glass of pastis.

While they may arrive in many shapes and forms, these small pleasures all have a way of drawing us further into our lives. They break up the monotony and infuse the mundane with a little bit of romance. They also draw us deeper into ourselves. They occupy and envelop the senses, encouraging us to focus only on the moment at hand. And, finally — and most simply of all — they have a singular way of bringing us happiness, peace of mind, and solace.

Onsen sweater and Givre pants in Pale Blue.

Nami dress in Matcha and Ombre pants in Eggshell.

Yakan cardigan in Ice and Kyandoru pants in Citron.