Welcome to The World of Divine Nectarina

Happy Sunday everyone! I suspect most of you are enjoying your first weekend of lockdown 2.0 on the sofa with your comfiest pj’s and a large glass of whatever you like the

most. At least I hope you are.

If you read our last post on small businesses then you probably saw one of our favourite brands mentioned on there - Delta of Phoenix. So, as an excuse for us to rave about how much we love them and give you a good evening read and some serious shopping inspo, we’re going to take a deep dive into the world of Delta of Phoenix and their latest collection drop ‘Divine Nectarina’, the follow up to their beautiful ‘Cosmic Summer’ collection.

Photography by Emily Lavarello, modelled by Robyn Sheen

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Firstly we asked CEO and mega-talent Francesa Newman to introduce herself and her brand.

Hi hi ~ I’m Fran Newman, the one-woman behind Delta Of Phoenix, my dreamy sustainable womxnswear brand.

I’ve been building Delta for nearly two years now, and it truly makes my soul shine ~ I’ve been oh-so-lucky to collaborate with the most wonderful creatives, and have met truly inspirational womxn that have elevated my Delta dream and drive.

Thank you oh-so-much to Sophie at The Sunday Mag for interviewing me all about my new collection, Divine Nectarina.

Sophie is a total dream to work with, and has been so supportive of Delta Of Phoenix since we first worked together ~ it’s so wonderful to discover a new way for us to collaborate.

Photography by Emily Lavarello, modelled by Robyn Sheen

1.  How did Delta Of Phoenix come to be? 

Delta Of Phoenix was originally the name of a brand I created for a project module during my Fashion degree.

I was reading one of my all time favourite novels at the time, Delta Of Venus by Anaïs Nin. This particular project was to create a vintage/retro brand, and for me (as a totally crazed Dumbledore devotee) a phoenix truly embodied revival & renewal ~ hence the name Delta Of Phoenix.

Post Fashion degree, I worked at a few brands and built up my industry experience, yet I always dreamt of Delta as a reality, of all the garments I would create and the positivity my brand could emanate. Finally, nearly two years ago, I decided to follow my dream ~ ‘Delta Of Phoenix’ just seemed authentic, to both me personally & the womxnswearbrand I envisioned.

2. What do you want the brand to stand for?

Delta Of Phoenix will always emanate true individuality and unapologetic femininity. I strive to uphold body positivity and inclusivity, and I hope I communicate both these elements via Delta designs and marketing.

Having personally experienced body-related mental health issues, for Delta to promote self-love and alter even a minute percentage of the industry’s ideals would be out of this world.

In the past, I’ve been advised to use ‘stereotypically desired’ models as that predicts higher sales.

This is what I think:

NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES.

We must work together ~ we need and should celebrate all bodies, all silhouettes and ethnicities. To change the next generation’s correlation between self worth and body mass – we need to be loving, inclusive and celebratory.

Again, NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES.

3. Tell us about the new collection.

Divine Nectarina is a daydream of peach gradients and sweet ballgowns. I will be introducing two new original Delta prints oh-so-soon, and some dreamy Winter accessories. Oh-so-excited to share with y’all!

First two images captured and modelled by Shannon Page, third image shot by Emily Lavarello

4. What does Divine Nectarina encapsulate for you?

For me, Divine Nectarina is all about emanating unapologetic sexuality through femininity.

I took a lot of aesthetic inspiration and influence from two key sources – Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino, and Volver, directed by Pedro Almodóvar. For me, these films represent that vulnerability found within love, the tragic but beautiful romance, whilst also radiating the glamour of a Telenovella. I imagine the dresses I’ve designed for Divine Nectarinabeing worn to places I can’t travel to with the world’s current lockdownstatus – a warm evening in the piazza with Aperol Spritz and olives, the velvet auditorium of an Italian opera house.

In a way, I’m living vicariously through Divine Nectarina, dreaming of all these glamorous occasions on hold.

5. How does the new collection differ/extend on from Cosmic Summer?

Divine Nectarina, in some ways, is a sweet & true elaboration on Cosmic Summer, with more focus on garments that suit the autumnal Volver piazza evening I’m dreaming of.

Colour palette aside, I’ve used patterns from Cosmic Summer to reinvent the new Divine patterns, and have ensured that they are even more sustainable, by establishing a higher percentage of fabric tessellation.

The Divine Marmellata is an elevation from the Cosmic Cirrostratus, and the Divine Tee will be oh-so-similar to the Cosmic Tee that y’all adored.

6. What’s your favourite piece from the Divine Nectarina collection?

My favourite garment from Divine Nectarina so far is the Marmellata ~ purely because I’m obsessed with the garment filmography by Clo Newman @clonewman, that made the Marmellatatruly M A G I C A L.

The three tiers of pale pink, peach and tangerine are exactly the colours I was dreaming of prior to release ~ Nectarina embodied.

Photography by Emily Lavarello, modelled by Robyn Sheen

7. How did this collection get its name?

Such a short but sweet story – I was in the first stages of initial design, and was researching all the peach-esque fruit, the soft fuzz textures. (For context - in my previous collection Cosmic Summer, I decided to feminise all the stars and constellations for the garment names; Neptune into Neptuna and so on).

As I researched Nectarine visuals, I thought how beautiful ‘Nectarina’ sounded. As for ‘Divine’, I am trying to use self-love words within collection titles in order to embolden Delta’s self-love ethos (Be COSMIC, Be DIVINE), and Divine just seemed to match the Volver vibes.

8. What is it like to be a small business right now? Have you noticed any hardships or improvements from the current situation?

The world’s atmosphere does create a sense of unease at the moment – I miss being able to collaborate on photoshoots as easily and freely as before as I really enjoy that element of my job, and I find it super disengaging to communicate solely via screen.

However, I believe we’re all adapting and working together in order to keep creative and supportive. I personally learnt so much about my work style in Lockdown 1.0, this time round I’m prepared & full of self-love rather than productivity-pressure.

Delta Of Phoenix will embrace the world’s situ, & I hope my brand radiates self-love virtues & body positivity in this unpredictable era.

9. What do you want from DOP in the future?

I’m truly enjoying the now, which is such a luxury to admit! I think to keep designing boldly is key, and reaching an even higher level of sustainability would be wonderful.

Photography by Emily Lavarello, modelled by Robyn Sheen

10. Anything exciting in the works?

Watch this space for Delta Of Phoenix’s first puffer jacket – its absolutely DIVINE. I’ve also got some absolutely wonderful collaborations lined up ~ SO SO EXCITED TO SHARE WITH Y’ALL.

11. 3 things you can’t live without.

➢ Tempura Salmon Maki

➢ Fiction novels

➢ Martini glasses (everything is glam when served in a martini glass, ESPECIALLY strawberry milkshake)

First two images modelled and shot by Shannon Page, last image shot by by Emily Lavarello

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Thank you so much to Fran for the wonderful interview! There’s so many things we’re looking forward to and we can’t wait to see how this beautiful brand grows even more!

Make sure to follow Delta of Phoenix, Emily, Robyn and Shannon on Instagram.

Love,

The Sunday Mag

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