Baina has done it again. The antipodean brand, whose checkerboard print towels have been a recurring motif of the aesthete, has unveiled its fourth collection.
We spoke to founders Bailey Meredith and Anna Fahey about the inspiration behind their latest collection, Underwood.
Baina’s Underwood collection is a New Zealand spin on the poolside aesthetic of the swimming complex of which it’s named. Underwood Pool in Massachusetts, USA, claims to be the first outdoor swimming pool in the nation, offering inspiration to the collection as a space built around the act of the post-match exhale.
Shot on location at the historic Parnell Baths in Auckland and the changing rooms of Long Bay Beach, the lookbook was shot by film photographer Rob Tennent. “We wanted this collection to reflect a side step from traditional bathing culture. The pool and the changing room locations had the undertone of sporty, post-match exhale, with a sense of inward reflection,” Bailey Meredith explains. “Rob’s photography of the collection captures a nostalgic yet luxe feel, appropriate for our timeless designs.”
Following the success of previous collections, Underwood sees a shift to a darker, moodier palette, introducing a new colourway ‘moss’, a soft, warm green in textured rib cotton. As a play on the vintage sports theme, the hue is broken up by three contrasting pale butter stripes.
The luxury appeal of the brand is due to the marriage of material, manufacture and design. Since the launch of BAINA in 2019, Anna and Bailey felt it was imperative that their brand was able to stand by their manufacturing and environmental impact.
“Our towels are GOTS-certified (Global Organic Textile Standard), meaning that they are made from 100 per cent traceable organic cotton and produced in a third-generation mill in Portugal, one of the hubs of towel production globally,” Anna says.
As for a favourite in the collection? Bailey and Anna both agree the Matheson bath sheet in moss is the most indulgent of their range, large enough to envelope yourself in, with a sense of hotel luxury.
Baina’s Underwood collection incorporates a hand towel in 500GSM, a bath towel, and a generous bath sheet in 600 GSM organic cotton. It is available for pre-order on 3 March 2022.
