Pajamas and the idea of pajamas alone has always ignited something in me. The word ‘pajamas’ itself turns on, each time I hear or think of it, a small light bulb in my mind and it is always accompanied by a cool snap of fingers. Not a crack of fingers, but a sexy snap of fingers.
Pajamas imply a certain sort of circumstances. One never wears pajamas in a place one doesn’t like, metaphorically rather than literally speaking. Although, one might want to wear one’s favourite pajamas precisely when the circumstances are not idilic and decides on feeling great anyway and, hence, wears the pajamas to be in the mood that one knows pajamas have the power to put one in. When one really likes the way one feels in a specific environment, say home, then it’s even more so. It is the greatest, however, when you wear the pajamas you, usually, wear at home somewhere you don’t even feel like sleeping because you are that excited, but, eventually, you do fall asleep, so calmly, and dream beautifully! Somewhere, yes, that, too, but when it’s with someone you really like – should we say love? Definitely! – then you’re in for a rollercoaster ride. Can you see the fireworks?
Chris Rock, once, said on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: I say everything’s about the company. A gourmet meal with an asshole is a horrible meal. A hot dog with an interesting person is an amazing meal. When it’s both a gourmet meal and an interesting person, then home is home wherever and the pajamas are a mere bridge towards intimacy. Obviously, the pajamas are not mandatory for the intimacy to arise, but once the pajamas are on, you are on! All buckled up. Pajamas, intimacy, tomato, tomato. Real intimacy is rare (but so is a fabulous pajama). It leads to connection. A connection in fabulous pajamas… Thcin-tchin to that!
This is where the question how much of ourselves is it alright to let people see? comes in. I believe in the more the better, but is this too much for many people? When you’re in the presence of someone who’s really themselves, it’s infectious and you either like it, hop on the rollercoaster, keep up and watch the fireworks from the ride – big ones, small ones, it really doesn’t matter, hey! – or you like it, but trick yourself into believing that rollercoasters are not your thing and watch the fireworks from afar because fear tells you so and, moreover, try to, sometimes, hurt the people on rollercoasters, instead. But that’s the thing with rollercoasters, no one can touch you when you’re on it and no one can stop the fireworks from lighting up the sky.
To get on a rollercoaster implies both a particular discipline and love – invariably – for the journey to the destination. The same with working out. I’m not its biggest fan, but of its effect it is possible that I am, yes. That’s why I adore dancing. And oxytocin. Sunshine on my face. Air. Discipline comes with persistency and responsibility. And we thought we were only hopping on a rollercoaster here. Oh, but when you do and you feel not only the adrenaline, but also the endorphins and, in the most movies like scripts, oxytocin! I believe anyone can hop on the rollercoaster, it’s a sort of freedom from the heart that comes with it, it grabs you by the hand and says Come on!.
To keep the mood, once off the rollercoaster, is not the easiest, but, obviously, is not impossible. Maybe not necessarily screaming at the top of your lungs or laughing, uncontrollably, out loud, but very similar to that. Calm. Easy. Similar to the seconds you’re suspended in the air. Air. Similar. The truth is that when you get off of it and you feel you’re Batman, the feeling stays within you, you still want to be Batman!
By the way, do you know where, on this planet, do bats live? In the Maldives. Not bad, huh? I saw them with my own eyes a year ago – no one had ever told me anything about bats when talking about the Maldives, nor had I ever seen or heard of any alike reference whatsoever in movies, music or books – flying so beautifully and peacefully, day and night, everywhere around the jungle, their home. Fun fact! On the flight from Istanbul to Male it was – drum roll – Batman that I chose to watch. Of all the movies in the world! And I thought I was only choosing a movie. Tim Burton’s ’89 Batman with Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger.
Who would have ever thought that it is the Maldives where Batman’s home is? Maldives look and feel like the opposite of everything Gotham looks like and stands for. There is pleasure in doing something you love. Or living somewhere you love. Or both.
We all know what Batman’s mission is. Passion is called passion for a reason, it draws people in a manner that they don’t even wonder why they are, but they are, it just does. It puts us all on the journey towards the mission in our life. The journey is what makes one kind and the more people become aware of it, the better the world becomes, it is only natural. It’s the state of pleasure that I slip into and gets me to explore creativity in whatever sparks the most in the moment. Writing this right now is part of my journey. Yourself reading this is part of yours. A wave comes and gently carries us away into dancing. Into singing at the top of my lungs when I don’t drive and am in the passenger’s seat and the driver widely opens his eyes, yet by second ten, is in the mix and we have a moment, we laugh, I even pass the mic and we, completely, forget the world. These moments happen when they happen or they just don’t, newsflash. Oh, but when they do and I’m driving and am alone in the car or with someone who doesn’t get scared when the Gaga in me takes over!
One of the most vivid, to the day, memories as such is the one on the way home from a long weekend in Istanbul, with three friends, one late September, many years ago. The Istanbul from before must have sparked this. I’m driving, Alex and Andreea sleep in the back due to a very bad (and sudden) cold, Bogdan, in the passengers’ seat, seems to worry, a tiny bit, in the beginning, because of my relaxed gig. This rhymes and Bogdan, gradually, forgets the world. The car I’ve had for a very long time due to the chemistry we’ve shared, has no new technology whatsoever, so music is consumed in a genuine way. I still love CDs. So, the Pulp Fiction soundtrack is in and we sing and dance in a way that we have no clue of the memory this moment would, eventually, turn to. Rhyming again? We are free. Bogdan, I will make you read this or maybe you’d have read this yourself and you’d only wink at me when you’d send me the video (you promised you’d find) of us enjoying the ride like there was no tomorrow.
Singing at the top of my lungs, but on the inside and somewhere on another planet, in our family car, but on the backseat, was something I did very often, as a child. I used to, actually, sit on the small hill of the car floor between the backseats. I could see more, just like the grownups in front could, and have easy access to the radio and the CD player. A particular moment has, forever, stuck with me.
It was during a family road trip to the South of France in the Summer of the year 2000 that I heard Baz Luhrmann’s Sunscreen for the first time in my life. We were in the capital of Andorra, in fact, because we thought of going to Barcelona also and it’s a good thing that we did. It was there and then that my dad, mom, brother and I drove, together, for the first time ever, in the same car, in a Burger King, at night, and, actually, ordered stuff. We never had fast food at home or outside of it, really, I even used to sing the song in the commercial (McDonald’s is always waiting for you or something) and nada. The thrill of an innocent McDonald’s from time to time is still very much in me and my mind still throws a little party whenever I get to share one with someone fun. Same with whenever I hear Sunscreen.
It was a beautiful workday morning in Andorra La Vella. The light on the narrow streets coming right through the windows of our car, the warmth, the love and this particular song (of all the songs in the world) on the radio have all, ever since, remained in a corner of my heart. I remember being excited both for the trip and for the life ahead of me. Somehow, right then and there, those lyrics did something to me, I now come to realise. It’s the little things that really shape you up. Slowly, but surely. My beliefs from back then are still my beliefs. The core. Hardcore. Softcore. I am very fortunate and grateful to have grown up doing the things I liked, whether it’s hobbies or jobs we’re talking about. I enjoy keeping my spirit and interest up. I love to write, so I worked to get the highest degree at it in every school out of love for it. I love hair, so I work on understanding it. I love adrenaline, so I worked in television and I did windows’ styling. I love fashion design, so I worked with a fashion designer. I love style in fashion and style is in anything, really, so I’m in a continuous awe of it. I love home, so I had the most fun making my home my home. I’m always looking for inspiration and, therefore, choosing not to waste time on bullshit. I just know that no matter what I do, I love. Easily. I put my entire soul in it. As romantic as I have imagined it. Wether it’s about my family, relationships, best friends, hobbies, work or the relationship with myself. The latter is the most important of them all and I was so enthused to read about it in Diane Von Furstenberg’s The Woman I Wanted To Be on a long flight a long time ago or in Clarissa Pinkola’s Women Who Run With the Wolves last Summer or to observe it in my mom. I also learned, a while ago, that everything happens for a reason. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. Live your life from a point of view of truth and you will survive everything.
So, I try as much as I can to go with the flow (magically got through a series of mysterious events to acting classes and absofuckinglutely loved it), fight for what I believe in and do my best at being the change that I want to see in the world. I also laugh at myself for putting crucial information in brackets.
Our meaning in life evolves along with us. It, sometimes, takes time to figure out the answers that, most often – Surprise! – come when we least expect them to. At other times, we have them in our face. This is, probably, why I am so curious about everything: love, movies, feelings, books, rollercoasters, places, food, lyrics, art, role models. They all make the journey so interesting, we’d better relax into the not knowing the end of it.
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is, still, one of my all time favourite movies. The mix of so many magnificent things in it twisted my brain, at eleven, in such a manner that I knew I wanted to be part of something fascinating for the love of it. Participate in the creation of it in order to bring more fascination into the world in any way that feels natural and sparkling. La La Land is playing (for the 20th times maybe) in the background as I’m writing this and, thank God, I am out of the loop of love stories where lovers don’t end up together, because I play forever, as Jay-Z puts it. La La Land is only on until the tone of the music changes, obviously. I had to learn to manage the enormous amount of empathy – as a person, you should be practicing empathy all the time, anyway – and let the flow of happy ending romcoms fill my home: Notting Hill, The Holiday, No Strings Attached, Burnt, The Notebook, Something’s Gotta Give, What Happens in Vegas, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Crazy Stupid Love, Wedding Crashers, Call Me By Your Name (minus the ending), How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days etc.
It has been a rollercoaster ride with dreams achieved, dreams shattered, relationships broken, hurt, but oh, loads of happiness and bliss to remember forever. Major contracts that I had to say no to, the time to recover from it and tighten up real ties, sparks of love throughout, Vogue, tough relationships and I wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for them all and them all making me write, frantically, since forever. I mix them all with anything art related. Ideas about anything from feelings to relationships, to meanings, to creativity, to calmness, to craziness, to originality, to design, to shows, ideas for cover letters, to letters, to lyrics, to melodies, to films, to studying and to them all intertwining.
The Fireworks & Rollercoasters pajamas collections is the fourth fashion collection I made, it is a capsule collection and its story just flows. It was during the time I was working on a huge project – that never happened, but this is how things intertwine to make other things happen – that I saw this off white fabric. It was in a warehouse – and I was researching the shit out of everything – that the idea of what I was going to do with the fabric came. Pajamas. Fabulous pajamas. I’m a sensation based, instinct driven human being, I can’t help it.
A friend, once, told me that ‘I can be so easily impressed’. I told him the problem is, in fact, that I can’t. I am in awe of all the little things, but it’s telepathy that sweeps me off my feet. Makes me fly. I only found it out myself the moment I, totally unfiltered, impulsively, opened my mouth and replied to him so calmly. Impressing has never really been my thing, it can, very easily, be mistaken for truth, but you know how these type of friends are. Called ex-boyfriends. Nothing wrong with ex-boyfriends. I loved them and I showed them, as The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel would say. One doesn’t, even, need to think of impressing. One might, although, sharpen one’s senses to feel the telepathy.
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. On love, The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran
The process of making the Fireworks & Rollercoasters pajamas in large amounts, within a factory, is a whole other story, because this specific capsule collection, apparently, is meant to only be made by the seamstress I have been working with for many years. It doesn’t have the feel of a factory, it has the feel of a very dedicated woman sewing them and myself taking care of every detail in the process. I won’t take you on this precise rollercoaster ride called creation process, but I will tell you that my intention, along the way, was for you to, instantaneously, feel fabulous the instant you put the pajama on and look in the mirror. I tried it, on several occasions, and it works! At home or on a groovy trip with a close friend.
Or at your neighbour’s 1am gather together. I was at home, in my bed, studying on my laptop, one Saturday evening, when I replied to my friend’s message to come over with Ok, but I’m coming as I am, in my pajamas. The moment I entered his house, another friend said Yeah, well, she says she’s only wearing her pajamas and then she comes looking like this. It felt good. The only thing I can say I did about my look, though, was the long bath I’d taken prior getting in bed and studying. So, my hair looked good and the no. 3 + no. 4 below sparked. Even more so, I believe it’s about the mood, the attitude.
- F*ck Yeah Robe (Getting out of the bathroom before getting into bed at night or out of the bed into the bathroom in the morning)
- Mhm Dress (I am officially… In bed. Or. Awake)
- I’m On It (Wouldn’t it be nice to always fall asleep with this thought? And then wake up in it?) Blouse
- You Bet I Am On It (Wouldn’t it be nice to always fall asleep with this thought? And then wake up in it?) Trousers
- I’m On It And I’m In This House In The Bahamas Now (For Anytime) Blouse
- I’m On It And You Bet I’m In This House In The Bahamas Now (You Bet Anytime) Trousers
- Hey Panties
- Arrivederci Mask
I hadn’t met Oana, yet. She took most of the pictures. When I thought of talking to her to help me get what I wanted from the shoot of the pajamas, I had only seen four pictures she took on my neighbour’s wall and thought Hm, interesting. I hadn’t, at all, thought about the fact that she hadn’t, in fact, been on a shoot before. I only cared about the passion. We talked on the phone a lot and I told her about my vision. The reference I gave Oana was Franca: Chaos and Creation (2016), the documentary. Franca Sozzani is one of my heroes and this is how I introduced her into this world I have been virtually in since forever. She gets, from the best, the point I wanted, with pleasure, to hit. I believe in pleasure. Everything took place at home, I knew exactly the angles I wanted the pictures to be taken from. The shoot morphed into this ode to home.
A friend, passionate himself about photography, came and took a few more shots. The neighbour turned friend came, too, and boom, it felt like a real shooting with friends, fun vibes and a whole lot of dedication.
I wanted the pajamas to make you feel at home no matter where you are. Home makes you shine just as much as the space does, I dare to dream. When you are in the pajamas and you are about to go to bed at night or make the most delicious, light, easy and simple breakfast in the morning or, frankly, whatever it is you want to do, ladies, please watch and listen, carefully, to the video below.
The next level would be to have music and a movie playing at once when writing. Luckily, I’m obsessed with paying attention and it would take an additional me to do it properly. What? Hi, hello, good morning, does anyone else’s brain exhaust them this evening?
I, almost all the time, listen to music, music that I love. The critical moment in the movie has just come, I stop it and, luckily, come across a live performance. I am a fan of live amazing things. Live, read differently, means to live and I adore how the magic of whatever this is that is happening here is happening. A live [performance], read and spelled differently, is alive and alive is… Everything. I believe in everything connecting just as much as I believe in a connection. I haven’t seen this performance in a while and there was a time when I was obsessed with it and, now, I know why. I have just watched it four times and I couldn’t help not to watch the second half of it one more time. I like the gravity thing. The can’t get enough of thing. So, what I wish for you, ladies, each time you get into these pajamas, is to feel exactly what this video makes you feel when you stand up straight, in front of the screen, and, without even realising, dance.
I know I do, whenever I’m in them. Straight into the mood. It is what I thought of the moment I saw the fabric and, in an instant, knew what I wanted for it to do for you.
It’s a whole thing with this collection. The fabric is limited, we can only make a couple dozens of sets, but that’s what I came to like a lot about it. It’s it, the s*it, and it’s the story behind it. The fabric was only made once, it is from a warehouse that saves gorgeous fabrics from factories that dispose them around the world, so no one really thinks of buying them for business. No one except me, it seems. Limited edition, I must have said to myself, at the time. I was excited to save it, buy it all and have the idea of what to do with it, all at once, in the moment. To make something out of it that would make someone else happy. What I, later, found out was something that fascinated me further more instead of having scared me. The fabric, as you see it, is only paper crisp once. It’s 50% cotton (which I chose to put on the inside for the cozy feel), 50% silk (which I chose to put on the outside for the fabulous effect) and this combination makes it crease in a way that I, absolutely, love when clothes manage to. Why? It becomes your own and nobody else’s. It becomes about you, how you deal with it, how you take care of it, how you wear it, how you choose to feel and the memories you gather in it. Also, I’m sure that not one Fireworks & Rollercoasters pajama will ever look like any other Fireworks & Rollercoasters pajama out there and there’s something that I really like about that. Every piece of it becomes unique just like guess who is! Most people would exclude making pajamas out of this kind of fabric. But there is someone who only thought of the extraordinary factor in someone wearing distinctly designed pajamas made from this particular fabric when, for the first time, someone saw it.
And this is how we don’t go to bed, but have a party, at home, right before going to bed. A good state to fall asleep in.
Or dream.
It’s important to find the pajamas you feel your very best in, then undress and feel the same (better!), in your own skin. This is where the sexy snap of fingers comes in and the fingers are pointing at you. Ideally, it’s that special someone in the rollercoaster with you, sexy snapping at you. And you thought it’s about the pajamas only. They are not called Fireworks & Rollercoasters for nothing and you’ve been warned about the fireworks and the moments that take our breath away. We are on a rollercoaster, anyway.
You know what it feels like (for a girl, as Madonna sings) when you bump up your head against something and what I really mean is knock your fist with intense surprise against the table or the kitchen counter the moment you take a bite of something that gives you instant pleasure from the first second you taste it, it keeps on growing on you and, in a matter of another couple of seconds, completely takes over your body and mind, your eyes tightly close and when you open them, you feel like you’ve just traveled into space or had an orgasm? In sync orgasms while making love (love, yes, love) is something just as fabulous as sharing the bite of the aforementioned something is.
Is this my cue to make pajamas for men also?
Dear men, let a girl breathe for a second and, completely, enjoy the joy after an orgasm. Or don’t, but do it as she does it. You know how she does it. Smooth. Like a cat. It’s her lips on your neck, it’s her fingers through your hair, it’s the little things. Think of yourself, what do you feel like the instant right after yours? A thing or two I know from a friend or two. I’m sure you care a lot about her orgasm, too, don’t you? Men, women, same, just take care. Winkey face, ladies. And gentlemen. Do you talk about things like this with your family, too?
Now get in your pajamas. Or out of them.
Wink!
A message just drops on my Whatsapp and it’s from a friend whose wedding I’d, recently, been at. My gift for her was a suit from my second collection, Party Like There’s No Tomorrow, that I instantly thought of the moment she invited me. So, today I tried on the suit from you. Initially, I thought to myself that the trousers are too large. But, man, then I put the top on top and I’m festive! They, immediately, give you a mood, these clothes! I’m waiting for the event to wear them. It’s a superb gift, unforgettable, unique. Can’t wait to wear them.
Follow your passion first. Life is spectacular. It’s like a dream. Now screaaaaaam.
Christmas brings us together just like a miracle can do. Intimate, over the dinner table, yet connecting us together as a human kind, on the most lush planet in the universe, is what we, from the world of Oz, mean even more. It snows here and the music is playing throughout. While toasting to health and happiness, we can see you and us saying ‘thank you’, looking into each other’s eyes and living completely in the present moment. Present also stands for gift. Gift also stands for talent and we are all gifted with talent. Isn’t that magical?
We know what Christmas day feels like and if you know someone who doesn’t, let’s help them to. Shakespeare said that ‘journeys end in lovers meeting’. We believe that ‘journeys are lit up by fireworks in lovers meeting’ and dare to dream that Shakespeare might actually like it now, four hundred years later. What do you believe in?
This might not be the card you would have expected for Christmas, yet we wish you to enjoy the unexpected and see your dreams coming true in 2022. It rhymes.
Life looks a lot like poetry and poetry is forever.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
For order or to say Hi! or both, write to oz@ozinparis.com.