It started with the name: we saw fall neutrals interlaced with subtle pops of color, peeking out in the form of soft petals. “Grey Gardens”–to us, it meant pleasantly cloudy fall afternoons, and the last few flowers left, holding strong. It was a beautiful name that to us suggested colors, a season, elegance. But then we remembered–isn’t there some movie with the same name? Isn’t that a house somewhere? Netflix to the rescue!

Grey Gardens, is also the name of a 1975 Maysles Brothers’ documentary film, about “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” Beale, a mother and daughter pair, cousins of Jackie Kennedy. Big Edie and Little Edie lived, at the time the film was made, in a dilapidated house in East Hampton, NY with dozens of cats and the odd raccoon, reminiscing about the old days, singing, dancing, and embodying what you might call “oddball chic.” It’s hard to put into words what the experience of watching this film is like, but its enduring appeal is entirely due to the strange camaraderie and offbeat charm of these two women.

Now, we know what you may be thinking. These women? The inspiration for a fashionable, sustainably made clothing collection? But the thing that stands out to us about the Edie Beales, both junior and senior, is that through the layers of wear and tear, these women have gumption, and pizzazz. They are, in Little Edie’s words, “staunch. S.T.A.U.N.C.H.” Plus, we just love a woman with her own unique fashion philosophy:

We can relate—don’t we all have to “think these things up” every day? That’s the fun of fashion!

So even after we made the discovery that our collection was about much more than a color palette, we didn’t back down on the name. We remained staunch, in the hopes that our customers might recognize our nod to a cult classic and, if they chose to discover this film for themselves, that they’d love Big Edie, Little Edie, and their peculiar sartorial choices just as much as we do.

Our own Grey Gardens is a series of tops that beg to be layered for fall—cardigans, cozy sweaters, vests and unique tees. Because of our no-waste philosophy, this latest Design Lab collection is made up of material that has undergone its own wear and tear as well: the vests, tees, and cardigans of Grey Gardens were constructed using salvaged materials from the store that needed some TLC, and the chance to bloom into something new and lovely. These tops feature hand stitched silk and cotton appliqué, as well as reverse appliqué, a technique we’d been dying to try out. In our version of Grey Gardens, you can see bright, beautiful pinks and greens holding their own through gray knit, just like the last flowers of fall, or the unflinching spirit of two staunch women. These one-of-a-kind pieces are for those who love to experiment with fashion as much as we do—after all, you could always take the cardigan off and use it as a cape.