Ever dreamt of giving up your current life and moving to an island far far away to follow your wildest dreams? For Katherine Ruggiero (know to friends simply as Kate) this dream became a reality and she now spends her days with the sand between her toes, the sun on her face and the sand in her hair designing the cutest of underwear. Three and a half years ago, she traded her life as a successful studio manager for a fashion photographer in NYC to move to Hawaii and make the comfiest, sexiest and most adorable underwear possible. Gypsy was born from lazy Saturday mornings and the endless search for the perfect pair of undies. The style is inspired by the designer’s free-spirited lifestyle, romance and ultimately, following your heart.
The first collection "Dream Girl", launched last May, was a mixture of cute vintage and animal prints and sold out completely in the first month, whilst her second collection “Wild Heart” is a blend of dreamy vintage lace, soft tie-dye prints and romantic colours and shades. Gypsy really is the epitome of love, life and happiness. It is a little labor of love, designed and hand-made by Kate so you are guaranteed a one-of-a-kind piece. Good friend, Daeja Fallas, is the amazing photographer behind the dreamy, unique and breathtaking photographs that capture everything that Gypsy is about in each shot. I just want to fly to Hawaii, lay on the beach and soak up some of those sunshine rays! ♥ ♥
Below is my interview with the talented one herself... enjoy.
What is your earliest fashion memory?
My sister & i fighting over a sweater and ripping a hole in it. I do remember being in middle school though & visiting NY and going into the betsey johnson store for the first time. i loved everything about it. the colors, the floral prints, the store clerks, the perfume of the place and the big pink sofa with all the high heels around it. it was so girly and so fun. i so badly wanted a dress from there and to this day still adore miss betsey johnson. she makes fashion so simply pretty and so full of life.
What are you most inspired by at the moment?
hearing the ocean when i fall asleep
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
follow your heart
When did you realise you wanted to leave your life behind in NY and move to the dream land of Hawaii?
i absolutely love ny. the lives you encounter in that city can change you and there is so much life to that place. I wish NY didn't have such a bad reputation as being an unfriendly place. It has so much soul & is still a huge part of who i am. Ny is the one place that i always dreamed of living and moved there right out of college. My sister & i lived together in a tiny east village apartment for years and I tried odd jobs then landed the one dream job for me at the time, working in fashion photography. but i found myself in the 'dream job' for 5 years and was slowing down. i was daydreaming more than doing & had very little time for doing. my job was very demanding, but thank god for it, as I learned so so much. i can't say enough about that opportunity and the positive effect it played on my life. Yes, it was a different pace & an involved world but i am such a different person because of it and because of all I learned working with that photographer. I was ready to move on in my job & started pursuing other photo jobs in Ny and it seemed completely wrong. I felt I had had the top of the top experience. I had worked for who I thought was the best and learned so much. I didn't want to take on a similar experience and wanted something new. i always dreamed of either living in europe or living near the beach. I took a quick trip alone for a week to hawaii in august and when the plane took off to take me back to NY I was crying. i knew it was the right place for me then. I moved to Hawaii in January.
who or what is your greatest love?
my 3 little nieces - emily, noelle & stevie. i am so so close to my 2 older sisters and they have been blessed with the loveliest girls i know.
i miss them everyday.
♥
