Atea Setting Itself Apart with Considered Minimalism

A dress designed by New Zealand-born Laura Myers, founder of the London-based brand Atea, is included in a Wall Street Journal feature about new midprice labels setting themselves apart from their trend-chasing peers.

Myers thinks of her customer as someone in her 30s, shopping for ultra-luxe minimalist labels like Céline, the Row and Jil Sander.

“Like myself, she probably buys up, down and across,” says Myers, 34, a Brown University graduate who worked in advertising before deciding in late 2012 to start Atea.

“There was a gap in the market for wardrobe DNA pieces, things you’d come back to again and again,” she said. “There were only super trendy things that you didn’t want to wear next season.”

What Myers means by “DNA pieces” are garments with a no-frills foundational nature. Her collection includes jackets, trousers, sweaters, T-shirts and more with squeaky clean lines, in shades of navy, gray and ivory. It’s minimal, yes, but basic? Not quite.

What sets Atea and New York-based label Protagonist apart is how they give simple-looking clothes thoughtfully considered details.

Original article by Meenal Mistry, The Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2014.

Photo by F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal.