While paying visit to No. 6 over the weekend—a retail haven tucked on the fringes of Manhattan’s NoLIta, where in-the-know style mavericks seek out the best in vintage and rare emerging designers—my eyes immediately fixated on bright, candy-colored dresses, and jumpers adorning the racks. Masterful proportions, playful prints, and voluminous silhouettes executed in juicy hues—the sole work of designer Stine Goya—reminded me that indeed, spring had sprung. Needless to say, I went stark raving mad and No. 6 suffered two hours at my hand. And so began my love affair with this brand new Danish designer.

The devil on my shoulder begged me to keep my delightful discovery all to myself, but doing so would be in vain—Stine Goya is no secret.

Though only two collections deep, Goya’s work has been internationally acclaimed after its debut during Copenhagen Fashion Week in February 2007. She’s no rookie, either. As a former model for Chanel, a stylist for Harper’s Bazaar, a Central Saint Martin’s graduate who worked under the auspices of Jonathan Saunders and Hussein Chalayan and a fashion editor at Cover, it seemed a natural next step for Goya to apply her finesse with fashion to the design craft. Though known for its purity and daring proportions, she takes the trademarks of Scandinavian design to new heights by infusing them with dazzling colors, eccentric prints and details, and a playful femininity always her own.

Inspired by the fragmented worlds depicted in Michel Gondry’s dreamlike films, her current collection is an extension of these themes. The covet-worthy silk dresses vary in style—while some are belted with exaggerated bows, flaring in subtle tulip shapes at the hem; t-shirt-inspired dresses are loose and effortless. Canary yellows, cobalt blues, tangerines and deep fuchsias lend a playfulness to classic silhouettes like cropped jackets, overalls, leggings, and slouchy, borrowed-them-from-your-boyfriend trousers. And walk like a Dane in her graphic-printed jumpsuit, if you’re daring.

Quirky, bright, and always easy, Stine Goya is set to bring that signature Scandinavian cool to your closet—and definitely mine.

By Kristi Garced

Photo courtesy of Gen Art Pulse