Byrsa derives its name from the ancient Greek term for strips of leather once wrapped around the body as protective garments. This piece reinterprets the concept to offer a variation of comfort, structure, and symbolic layering. Constructed from bias-cut panels of velvet, this reiteration of Byrsa emphasizes fluidity in form while taking from the original Byrsa cloaks to offer an architectural silhouette.
Cut in velvet, óasi offers up the poetry of the fabric, with its ability to hold onto touch and embrace. When a hand brushes against the surface of the piece, a pattern is made, and memorized until it is wiped away. Byrsa, like parchment, envelops the body in layers with its ability to hold onto moment and movement. The collar of Byrsa dips into a gentle shawl shape, with the sleeve structure blooming wide, taking from the wings of Zephyr in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
The double-breasted fastening is asymmetrical, a nod to both Japanese kimono styles, and ecclesiastical Greek attire. Worn unbuttoned, Byrsa takes the shape of a shawl that drapes over your shoulders and between your arms. Buttoned and clasped, Byrsa forms a plunge-necked jacket that can be worn atop clothing, or by itself. Complimenting the curvature and structure of Byrsa, sits Venus’s hair in the form of intricate pearl & glass bead embroidery, with tendrils wrapping around the cloak only to accentuate its shape, and adding intrigue through a variation of texture. Byrsa imagines the wearer in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, or more specifically, imagines the wearer as Venus herself.
One Size
Worn with the Ostrac Top, and the Konche Skirt.
Colourway: Eggshell
Fit: Flared. Hits at Upper Hip.
Fabric Composition: Viscose Velvet
dry clean only
