By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com

With the current pandemic still looming, travel remains limited in thought for many as some find ways to escape to beaches and resorts in these mundane times. Fashion has responded in many ways, making facemask part of their collections and slowing down their production process for a matter of safety and sustainability. Trying times indeed, but life must go on, and what resort wear brand Saint Holiday realized as they prepped their fourth collection.

In its Sophomore year, Saint Holiday was shaken by the COVID pandemic like most other brands. After successfully gaining ground on the resort fashion market, selling with retailers like Barney’s aside from other boutiques and hotels, the summer of 2020 didn’t look as promising.

Founders Kate Lessa and Vijay Paintal understood that the aesthetic of travel was becoming an afterthought for consumers as airlines and other retail and restaurant locations closed down around the world. Resort wear would be obsolete in the interim as vacation destinations impacted by COVID and had mandatory shutdowns and quarantine. 

The Saint Holiday line started as ethical crafters creating the modern caftan and tunic styles. Clean and uncomplicated travel inspired pieces seemed fitting as the economy was better than now, back in 2019. Kate and Vijay had the luxury of sourcing unique and sustainable fabrics from around the world from places like Japan, India, and Italy. 

From there, they could work with those fabrics back in NYC. With a local team in the garment district, they would have their samples made in house. 

After several months of design trial-and-error, Kate and Vijay settled on harmonious designs that represented the ethos of their jet-setting leisure line. From then, the duo sought to create a line that felt more natural and flowed with the seasons for Spring/Summer 2021. Using material like linen in a ranging palette consisting of soft neutral tones, blush, gold, white, and adding corals and island themes in prints. 

They refuted the norms of the traditional fashion schedule early into their existence. The first quarter of 2020 foreshadowed problems on the horizon, although. Kate notes that her partner was in-tune enough to figure out the lay of the fashion industry as lockdowns soon followed COVID announcements back in March. 

“Vijay was quick to realize the impact, he anticipated the extended industry shutdown early on, and we immediately pressed pause on manufacturing. We sat tight for a little bit. The uncertainty was overwhelming,”

Kate explains.

She recalls stalling on designing a new Saint Holiday collection with any immediacy.  “We were definitely nervous to invest at that moment. There were a lot of accounts canceling and postponing orders,” Kate describes. The two were cautious and strategized steps to take to get through what would become a pandemic.

Kate and Vijay saw an opportunity to form bonds that would sustain their business over the lockdown period. In April 2020, the founders spoke with adjacent brands and buyers to discuss the best ways to move forward. Their sales team and factory were onboard for the revamp.

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