This collection began during our recent trip to the Philippines, when I found myself thinking about how quickly life moves, and how easy it is to miss the good parts while you’re actually living them.

While staying in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, we were surrounded by mango orchards, with trees heavy with fruit at different stages of ripening. There was a stillness to being there that made me pay closer attention to things I would normally rush past. Late afternoon was my favourite time. As the sun began to drop, deep greens softened into sage, the sky moved through washes of pink and orange, and for a brief moment everything was caught in this beautiful golden light. Even the mangoes seemed to hold traces of the surrounding landscape, their skins freckled by the tropical sun and shifting from green to yellow, amber, and blush.

What stayed with me wasn't really the mangoes themselves. It was the feeling of being surrounded by so much life and abundance, while knowing that none of it would stay exactly as it was. I think I've become more conscious of this as I've gotten older. We spend so much time looking forward to what's next, or back at what has already passed, while these ordinary pockets of fullness are happening right in front of us. Time with family, children at a certain age, or a place we may never experience in quite the same way again.

Returning to the Philippines brought that feeling into sharper focus. There was familiarity in the food, the warmth, the landscape and being with family, but I was also experiencing it through the person I am today. I wasn't trying to recreate an old memory. I was making new ones.

When we returned home, those memories followed me into the studio. I called the collection ‘WHILE WE’RE HERE’ because, for me, these works are ultimately about presence. Noticing when life feels full, even if only for a moment, and remembering to be there for it while we’re here.

- Kass