Oona Ratcliffe was raised in Bolinas, a small rural town on the coast of California. In 1999 she moved to the contrastingly urban metropolis of New York City to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in painting, which she received in 2003. In her New York studio, Ratcliffe's large-scale and colorful abstract paintings have come to reside among a smartly designed clothing line of dresses, tops and jackets. Nocturnally experimenting by trial and error on her sewing machine (painting taking up daylight hours), Ratcliffe's clothing was born from a personal interpretation of the language of fashion. Her label langue was created in 2006.

Ratcliffe's approach to fashion is strongly related to her background in fine art; she sees her clothing as sculptural, three-dimensional explorations of the fluid, two-dimensional shapes often utilized in her paintings: For me, they are two different ways of thinking about an object — abstract painting is a more stream-of-conscious description of space, while clothing is challenging because I have to think in terms of the physical construction of the garment, and the structure of the body in space . . . it is a new language.

Ratcliffe's interest in designing clothing was initially inspired by the simplicity, functionality and easy sexiness of a friend's mother's old cotton apron dress. She was attracted to the utilitarian aspect of its design, and the uncomplicated, angular construction of the pattern. She continues to explore a similar minimalism in her clothing. With unembellished angles and lines, she exploits the drape achieved from a loosely folded square, or the overlapping of material in a wrapped rectangle. The structure of her clothing echoes her interest in Modernist art and the formal concepts of shape and design, while her emphasis on wrapped and draped fabric allows for the individual wearer's interpretation and style. Ratcliffe loves the idea that one piece can adapt to different body types and personalities, and, depending on the way it is worn, its versatility switching easily from day to evening. Her focus on simple shapes and fluid fabrics easily complement the body.

Always of high quality, some of her more understated fabrics are related to her interest in a sort of Bauhausian factory aesthetic, while the silks she chose for the more whimsical wrap dresses are saturated with the same intense, pop-infused colors of her paintings. Her newest line consists of a versatile wrap jacket in an indigo blue linen/cotton blend, a wrap top and wrap dress in a selection of gorgeous candy-colored silks, a reversible tank dress in silk charmeuse, and a black strap dress which laces up the back and will be available in spring wool and rayon.

For a Langue catalogue and/or price list, please email: langue.oona@gmail.com.