Lovelight Opera Duster Kimono

$138.00

Introducing Lovelight, an enchanted woodland fairytale that features the magical work of artist Charles van Sandwyck. A world-renowned illustrator and writer. We are deeply honoured to be collaborating with Charles, whose work has been a source of inspiration for us! This design was created using a collage of several pieces of Charles’ work, including a majestic guardian swallow, a delicate watercolour moth, and a star-dappled fawn. The whole collection is edged with Charles’ original poetry. Lovelight is a tribute to the radiance each of us carries within — the love, empathy, and creative spark. For more of Charles’ work, please visit www.cvsfinearts.com & @charlesvansandwyk

100% viscose (derived from plant fibres such as wood and bamboo). Machine wash gentle or handwash and hang to dry. Kimono measurements: length 78cm, width (across back, underarm to underarm) 74cm. 

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
- W.B. Yeats

"Where the light falls, love awakens.”
- George MacDonald

"My heart is a lantern lit by the stars.”
- Sarah Teasdale

The Poem

Lovelight
by Audrey Keating

…and so she begins again
her garden in darkness
and the river that once sang to her
too depleted to hear;
wispy aromas from wild violets
roses, sage and something deeper
draw her toward an opening
where field meets woods; 
she turns, takes one step
another, and enters

a half-remembered place
soft as moth wings
cool spaces
between the trees, hushed 
moss and stillness
drifts of ferns, shadowy
moist smells of growth
and whispered promises 
of flowers not yet open
there is almost light

she steps further in
her feet are bare now
toes gripping the earth
her body the curved edge
of a leaf, then a branch
a bird, starlight 
and the moon
she moves like water 
like homecoming 
like a lover requited 
luminous and bright
she is singing

How to Wear

There’s a quiet kind of magic in this duster—like pages turning in a well-loved fairytale! Layer it over a black or aqua slip dress and add some turquoise jewelry to bring a little effortless whimsy to sunlit afternoons. Or for everyday enchantment, pair it with high-waisted jeans and a soft tank, then finish with ankle boots and gold hoops. When autumn drifts in, layer it over a fine-gauge knit and wide-leg trousers in warm earth tones, and add a felt hat or leather crossbody bag for a touch of woodland romance. And when the evening calls for something a little more spellbinding, belt it over a silk dress and add the matching scarf or antique-inspired jewels. However you wear it, this piece casts a gentle kind of glamour—one that lingers like a dream and glows from within.

Our Muse / Inspiration

The wildling, the poet. Women who walk in moonlight and wonder, who see magic in the smallest of things: dewdrops on grass, the hush of wings. Women with stars in their eyes.

More Inspo

Charles van Sandwyk is a beloved, award-winning Canadian artist whose work feels like a secret doorway into a more magical world—one filled with well-dressed animals, curious fairies, and gentle forest folk. Born in South Africa and raised in Vancouver, he was the kind of child who practiced calligraphy for fun and performed magic tricks on a unicycle. His early love for antique books and golden-age illustrators still echoes through every brushstroke and pen flourish.

Charles splits his time between the lush forests of British Columbia and a quiet island in Fiji, where he creates in a thatched-roof hut with no electricity—just the sound of waves and wonder. His handmade books, like “How to See Fairies” and “The Parade to Paradise”, have become collector’s treasures, and he’s lent his enchanting touch to Folio Society editions of The Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland. Our Lovelight collaboration with Charles includes an excerpt from his illustrated book-length poem “Tree Whispers”—a piece he dreamed one night and remembered word-for-word upon waking, as if the forest itself had recited it to him.

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