Stillness, Structured: Raf Swiader and Eddie Stern Tailor for the Yoga Mat
Five pieces in crinkled Japanese cotton, made in small batches within a few doors of the practice that shaped them
Office-to-gym dressing has been promised for the better part of a decade, and it usually arrives as tech-fabric trousers that swish underfoot or a hoodie with just enough structure to imply intent. A new capsule from NYC designer Raf Swiader and yoga teacher and author Eddie Stern proposes something less compromised: five pieces of tailoring cut from 100% Japanese crinkled cotton, relaxed enough to carry through a day of studio visits and then onto a mat without a change of clothes. It began on a single block downtown rather than in a boardroom, which turns out to be the whole point.
The R.Swiader boutique sits at 135 Grand Street, one block south of the Broome Street Ganesha Temple where Stern has taught for decades and where Swiader leads community Yoga Sangraha classes. Proximity did the work that a licensing deal usually attempts. The student-teacher relationship on the mat gave way to a shared design conversation, one in which Stern’s long interest in tailoring met Swiader’s curiosity about designing for someone who understands precisely how a body moves, breathes and holds still.
That understanding lives in the fabric. Rather than the sweat-wicking synthetics that define the category, the capsule is rendered entirely in crinkled Japanese cotton, a textile with texture woven into it rather than applied afterward. It stretches, breathes and drapes with an organic irregularity that reads as considered rather than casual. Every piece comes in black and only black, which spares the wearer a decision and reads, in this particular New York summer, as the least surprising choice available.
The Leo Blazer reprises R.Swiader’s signature double-breasted cut, sharp on the hanger and unrestrictive once worn—a garment Stern can travel in and wear to a gallery opening, then shed at the edge of the mat. The Mitra Pant, named in quiet acknowledgment of the teachers who came before, pairs an elastic waist with a wide leg that can be worn straight or gathered: an adjustable elastic cinch at the cuff draws the ankle closed, collapsing the drape into a balloon silhouette that reads far more architectural. The Eddie Shorts address the in-between hours, the stretch between practice and dinner, with a dropped crotch and front pleats that keep the ease from tipping into slouch. The Sander Shirt adds a further layer of relaxed structure, and an unnamed tie completes the group, the most formal object in a collection built around release.
Every piece is designed and made in small batches in New York, a constraint that has kept the label circulating largely by word of mouth among people who notice such things. The R.Swiader storefront is the front of a shared space, and behind it operates Mott NYC, the hair salon run by Swiader’s husband John Arsenault, whose work extends across a long career as a fine art photographer and more recently into ceramics. Arsenault photographed the campaign images seen here, which means the collection was conceived, cut, styled and shot within the radius of a few doors.
Swiader and Stern marked the launch on 13 July by co-teaching a class—of course while wearing pieces from the collection, closing the loop on where the collection started. The capsule is available at 135 Grand Street and online. For anyone curious about what happens when a double-breasted jacket meets conscious breathing and movement, the answer is on Grand Street.
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