Pared-Back Beauty — Nagnata Flagship by Pattern Studio

Nestled into a cosy storefront in Byron Bay’s newest fashion precinct, Jonson Lane, on the lands of the Arakwal Bumberlin people, you’ll find the new flagship for sustainable fashion and lifestyle clothing label Nagnata.

The design by Byron Bay-based Pattern Studio presents an elegant, pared-back aesthetic, superficially beautiful while carrying a meaningful message – a paradox that echoes the brand’s own deeply considered philosophy. Created by sisters Laura May and Hannah Gibbs, Nagnata started on the yoga mat, emerging from Laura’s experience as a fashion designer and Hannah’s background as a textile artist and photographer. The roots of the brand’s identity lie in Laura’s study of yoga, mindfulness and eastern philosophy; the name Nagnata means ‘nakedness’, hinting at the Buddhist philosophy of stripping back the unnecessary to find one’s original self.

The design by Byron Bay-based Pattern Studio presents an elegant, pared-back aesthetic, superficially beautiful while carrying a meaningful message – a paradox that echoes the brand’s own deeply considered philosophy.

This discipline is expressed through the garments themselves, in the honest use of natural textiles interwoven with renewable fibres to create functional apparel that hides nothing, allowing the wearer to find themselves. While initially designed for yoga, the ease of movement and fashionable aesthetic made the clothing comfortable enough to wear beyond the mat, throughout the day and to the cocktail bar at night. Pattern Studio has captured this intersection of art, fashion and philosophy, articulating it adeptly across a modest storefront canvas.

The flagship is at home in the new Jonson Lane precinct, adjacent to other brands such as fellow Byron Bayites Venroy and Deiji Studios, along with international cult streetwear label and magazine Saturdays NYC. From the outside, smoky glass windows and dull brassy frames set a refined mood. Misty figures and the darkened glow of the LED lighting installation then create a sense of mystery, enticing one to enter and explore. Immediately, the cloud pattern of LED visible from outside stretches across the ceiling, like a set of stairs unfolding forward, drawing the eye through the sweeping natural curves that line the walls.

Pattern Studio has captured this intersection of art, fashion and philosophy, articulating it adeptly across a modest storefront canvas.

Recognising that the colours and textures of the brand’s garments aesthetically evoke the fashion of the 1960s and 70s, Pattern Studio referenced the work of artists from this era. The curvaceous forms, rendered in plaster and finished in natural lime, are a nod to Hungarian artist Antti Lovag, famous for the Bubble Palace (Palais Bulles), formerly the holiday home of Pierre Cardin. The circular geometries, a manifestation of Lovag’s preoccupation with organic forms and their movement, resonate with Nagnata’s deep consideration of human movement in its garments. The walls themselves take on a sculptural quality, which is expressed elsewhere throughout the store, from the flowing custom couch in Kvadrat/Raf Simons Vidar upholstery in gentle barley brown satin to, most impressively, the solid marble table at the point-of-sale.

Inspired by avant-garde French sculptor and ceramicist Valentine Schlegel, the asymmetrical planes of the walls and furniture capture her organicist aesthetic. The POS table, in Nero Marquina and Golden Spider marbles, is a mix of honed and raw shapes, the natural and the intentional stitched together to create an enduring form – an idea that echoes Nagnata’s own ethos of transcending fast fashion by using organic textiles in a conscious way. The table’s light and dark materiality evokes yin and yang, ideas central to Laura’s own philosophy. The sweeping natural forms are swiftly cut by intersecting LED luminaries. Controllable RGB programming gently waves the store through the ephemeral colours of the day until, after dark, the tempo rises, and the serene natural oasis becomes electrifying.

The circular geometries, a manifestation of Lovag’s preoccupation with organic forms and their movement, resonate with Nagnata’s deep consideration of human movement in its garments.

Conscious that this is not just another Byron Bay beach label, Pattern Studio has created a unique contemporary space that embodies the brand’s 1970s aesthetic and focuses on organic forms and movement. Bringing Nagnata’s spirit of simplicity and functionality, the natural materials and sculptural forms expressed throughout the store create an evocative experience inviting users to reflect on the Buddhist ideals at the heart of the brand’s philosophy. Most notably, as Pattern Studio expresses, the flagship store expresses Nagnata’s own celebration of paradoxes: “proving it is possible to be simultaneously environmentally responsible and fashionable, global and hyper-local, stylish and sweaty.”