Front Street store Urban Cottage is to showcase island designer Juliana Gibbons at a special event tonight.

The limited edition Retrograde collection, inspired by a fire that devastated Ms Gibbons’ home, will be on show and available for order.

Ms Gibbons said: “The latest collection is an exploration of finding intrigue and beauty among the ruins, conceptually transforming visual inspirations and emotions into wearable art and finally seeking strength in the face of adversity through creation and art.”

She added: “Looking beyond the singed pages of so many amazing books, past the blistered paint and melted and shattered glass, I saw the most beautiful patterns which serve as colour and print inspiration for the collection.

“This collection and its process are inspired by finding beauty among the ruins, taking ownership when life tests your strength and embracing how chaos can enrich and improve upon order.”

Ms Gibbons, a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, was one of seven Bermudian designers picked for a four-month mentorship scheme run by celebrity stylist and fashion editor Shiona Turini.

The programme, supported by international magazine editors and fashion professionals, resulted in the designers’ work being shown at the Bermuda Fashion Festival last July.

Ms Gibbons worked with Nicole Golden, the owner of Urban Cottage and learnt the skills needed to prepare a collection for sale.

Ms Golden said she planned to transform the store for the event, which features an eclectic mix of new, vintage and reclaimed homewares, as well as clothing, food and wine.

Each piece in the Retrograde range was handsewn by Ms Gibbons, with customers able to preview the designs and special order on the night.

Urban Cottage partnered with the Local Designer Showcase as part of this year’s Bermuda Fashion Fest to feature an island designer in the store.

Ms Golden, who opened Urban Cottage two years ago, said high fashion had the potential to become a significant part of the island’s economy.

She added: “There are tons of Bermudians all over the world doing creative stuff and working with major companies, but nobody knows about them.

“I’m here for the development stage to push it forward. Bermuda is the best place to become an entrepreneur, for sure.

“We’re definitely a niche market, a fashion-forward brand and we represent a lot of different brands that are Bermudian and people don’t even realise they are Bermudian.”

Ms Golden started her career after going shopping for her own home — and finding little that appealed, leading her to start visiting auctions and yard sales.

She accumulated so much she decided to sell off some her finds in a pop-up store run on weekends from a former mechanic’s shop in a Warwick industrial estate to test the market before opening Urban Cottage.

The store has been featured in international glossy magazines, like Forbes, Vanity Fair, Travel + Leisure and Coastal Living.

Ms Golden said: “Urban Cottage is very representative of Bermuda — I call it a mix of the new and the old.

“The market is pretty diverse — we get a lot of business travellers and expats as well as local people, and tourists really gravitate towards it.”

The fashion show starts at 6pm.

For more details, call Urban Cottage at 296-3039 or visit Instagram @urbancottagebermuda