The Button Down Shirt

A blue checkered shirt and a small drawstring bag.

Through the years, I’ve introduced classic white and versions of blue and white stripes as the ultimate button down. It’s part of my design language. In my world, button downs are white or blue and white striped. The Alex stripe is my favorite, and I’ve used it for button downs, tops, dresses, and shorts as well as packaging.

A collage of black and white fashion portraits featuring women in various poses.

TextIn my design process, I approach each season as an evolution of the last—part of one timeless collection. Through the years, I have interpreted the striped button down in many ways—fitted and classic, ruffled and pullover, sometimes washed and wrinkled for that lived-in sophisticated nonchalance. In every iteration, it is always feminine imbued with masculine context.

Four fashion images featuring models in various outfits and styles.

Everything in my collection comes from my personal references. When I was defining my style in high school, I wore my button down shirt under a lambswool crewneck sweater. It happens to be very classic European school gear, but this was not the typical way back home. Today, for Pre-Fall ’24 and Spring ’24, I styled all my button downs under cashmere crewnecks.

The blue and white Oxford striped button down—which I called the Alex stripe—was the first shirt I introduced into my collection in 2004. Since then, the button down has become part of the brand DNA.

Through the years, I’ve introduced classic white and versions of blue and white stripes as the ultimate button down. It’s part of my design language. In my world, button downs are white or blue and white striped. The Alex stripe is my favorite, and I’ve used it for button downs, tops, dresses, and shorts as well as packaging.

Empty white background with no discernible features or objects.

In my design process, I approach each season as an evolution of the last—part of one timeless collection. Through the years, I have interpreted the striped button down in many ways—fitted and classic, ruffled and pullover, sometimes washed and wrinkled for that lived-in sophisticated nonchalance. In every iteration, it is always feminine imbued with masculine context.

Women wearing a sweater over the button down shirt

A minimalistic design featuring a handwritten signature.

Twenty years later, I am continually drawn to a blue and white striped button down. It serves as a constant source of inspiration. The button down, particularly in white or blue and white stripe, is the ultimate essential that belongs in every woman’s wardrobe. Each season, I offer different fits from the classic Raphael Shirt and the shrunken Dyllan Shirt to the oversized Yorke Shirt.

Everything in my collection comes from my personal references. When I was defining my style in high school, I wore my button down shirt under a lambswool crewneck sweater. It happens to be very classic European school gear, but this was not the typical way back home. Today, for Pre-Fall ’24 and Spring ’24, I styled all my button downs under cashmere crewnecks.