#volantedesign

Friends! We are shifting production to making face masks for those in need. These are not n-95 grade medical masks, but are being donated to those medical establishments requesting fabric masks. Please donate to cover our production costs so we can make as many as possible.

To be as transparent as possible about our costs and what donation covers, we have a breakdown graphic showing what goes into making one mask. David & Willow will donate their labor but if we need to bring staff in to assist, they will be paid.

If we can cover the basic costs of production, we will be happy. We are here to give our time, our facilities, whatever materials we have. We care deeply about you, our community, far and wide. We believe that if we all rise to this occasion, we will come out of this stronger and wiser.

Will you rise to the occasion? Give what you can.

Did a little shoot in my Assassin coat yesterday and wanted to share some of my favorites!

Photos by: Thomas Grey Photography

Today is officially our 7th birthday as a company!

This collection has been a dream for a long time. I think it's David's best work to date. I am so proud of our little company for taking the leap to make a whole outfit and offer it all at once.

David has always loved Ninjas, whether they were the TMNT, or from Mortal Kombat - these were some of his earliest sketches. Even now, his favorite superhero is Spiderman, who is basically a ninja (don't come at me, I've thought about this a lot! He sticks to walls, he climbs, he hides his face, he uses few tools to great effect.)

At three years old, David dressed up as a Ninja Turtle and got so excited that he bashed his head on the edge of a speaker. We consider that his first practice for being a ninja. He probably could have used one of the Naruto forehead protectors.

Going to Japan for the first time last fall really fanned the flame. We came back filled with new inspiration and the elements seemed to align for us to make a whole ninja outfit; pants, shirt, gloves (which got paused), a mask and hood (which got paused) a jacket, another jacket, and even an over-robe. Being a ninja requires both layers and options.

"If I was going to make my first whole outfit it was going to be a ninja outfit," he said in a 'what else? Duh?’ sort of tone. He was nice about it, but for him it was the obvious starting place.

Ninja take risks and so did we. Pants are a first-time product for us and we decided to make two kinds in different styles. We've never made a shirt either, but everyone needs something to wear with their jackets! David has been wearing his for weeks, even though it’s supposed to be a secret.

Even bigger, we also decided to make most of the collection a non-gendered cut. In Japan we found that men's and women's clothes weren’t separated in the fashion shops we went into and nobody cared.

We are profoundly grateful to be able to make this collection come to life. We are thrilled to be celebrating our 7th birthday! To be fair we imagined it happening a little differently. But we must count our blessings. We wouldn’t be here without you! Happy 7 Years! Thanks for being on this crazy journey with us!

Stay badass, Willow and the Volante Design crew