LOOKBOOK: CRYBABY PRESENTS

"The girl who wears Crybaby wants to stand out a little," says Dakota Solt, one-half of the art collective-retail space. Judging by their spring '13 lookbook--hello, blue lipstick--she's not kidding. The collection is punctuated with stand-out items, like a simple crop featuring sheer mesh sleeves, a blue gingham bustier, or a shiny white a-line skirt. "We were looking at silhouettes from the '20s and the '50s," explains Solt, before her friend and Crybaby Presents partner Lisa Ziven adds, "And looking at stuff that maybe our mothers and grandmothers wore--and playing that up. That's a big part of Crybaby: taking something that's classic and adding this funky, punk twist. Something a bit unexpected."

The duo, who we featured as our It design collective in the October issue, aren't just looking to mine the past for inspiration; they're also taking into account what women like themselves look for in a wardrobe. "Everything's sold separately, but it's interchangeable to facilitate the buying experience--to say, This is the look that we envision, and we give you the whole thing, from top to bottom, day to night…the whole shebang!" Ziven exclaims. Clearly, we're not the only ones excited by their designs; Yacht's Claire Evans is their spring '13 cookbook model (she pulls off blue lipstick well, right?), they're just releasing a collaboration with Cult Gaia, and just this week it was announced that the duo would be featured in the upcoming GenArt Fresh Faces event in Los Angeles.

Which means that you'll be seeing a lot more of their "French Riviera with a punky Crybaby twist" style--and we couldn't be happier about it.

Visit crybabypresents.com for more info.