Sure, we could (and do) talk endlessly about the clothes we love, but for our new column Line Item, we'll be asking some of our favorite designers to tell us what they think about the best pieces from their newest collections. Today, Yodit Eklund of Bantu tells us about the Bantu Poncho from her spring collection.
This poncho is hand-woven in Addis, the capital of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian highlanders use this fabric as a blanket, and I wanted to design a poncho to feel like a blanket. I wanted it to be comfortable. People think Ethiopia is hot, but it's actually quite cold. Most of it is mountains. But it's always sunny. It’s crazy—even during the rainy season the sun comes out. Ethiopians have thirteen months in their calendar and they say Ethiopia has thirteen months of sunshine. I wanted it to be something for when it's a really hot summer and you get on a plane and it's freezing, you can pull this out and put it on—or at night at the beach. It's supposed to be super versatile, and you’re supposed to be able to wear it in a million and one places.
