LIFE
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I am loving the new work coming out of CKD lately. I am also loving the growth I’ve been going through lately. Feeling a shift, and it feels great. So ready to start work again. So much to show you! Here are some pieces of work that I’ve been working through during quarantine. x C
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I can’t believe my company turns 5 years old today. I started Candice Kaye Design with a couple rolls of wallpaper and vague idea of how I can make bespoke work within the hospitality industry. I kept asking myself “how can I make you look at wallpaper differently?”I documented the process because I wanted to take you on this journey with me. When I was in Morocco, I wanted you to be in Morocco. I wanted you to feel connected to the collections creation. I feel this connection is lost within the textile industry. It is also important for me to show you how personal everything I create is. I never could have imagined where ckd would take me in just 5 years. What’s to come is going to be another set of adventures and lessons and growth. But this is SO MUCH FUN, and I love expressing my creativity in unique and outside the box ways. Thanks for following along this journey with me! Cheers to 5 years!
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Quiet mornings in the studio are my favourite. CKD has been keeping busy. So many new projects to launch this summer. It’s been a blessing to sit longer and really spend time with these projects. It is really a luxury to be able to create with time on your side. The past two months have been spent finishing up projects from January. May is already booked with new projects opening in August. It’s bizarre to hear myself speak like this. Last year this time was so different. I was returning home from Montauk’s install and starting Papi Steak. So much can change in just one year.
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Snuck away to a place that felt less like COVID. I have been taking advantage of this space where time feels infinite and creation exists from a place of peace and patience. Urgently creating under almost impossible deadlines not only stunts creativity but doesn’t allow for my mind to breathe, rest and reset. I’ve learned a lot about myself over the past two months at home. When things start to “click” for a company natural instinct isn’t to slow down, it’s to step up and learn how to operate at a new capacity. However, I am not a machine. Sometimes i wish i was. I am a human, with moods, and I get tired and have headaches. I like to have fun and laugh, I love my friendships & family and value my relationships, I like to travel and meet new people. I like to spend time by myself in my imaginary world and dream. My childlike self was suffering. I am my happiest when the child in me is nourished. Her innocence is what keeps the creativity alive. She reminds me to keep things light and have a sense of humour about life. I’ve learned that slowing down is necessary. I am reseting and revisiting, and rewriting what I would like my new normal to look like.
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Dermalogica x CKD!! We are working on something fun coming soon! I’m in the studio starting the bespoke process, and decided to make a video :) Press play here to watch it!.
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How is everyone doing? 12 more weeks of staying home. I hope you’ve been taking the time to relax or self reflect, or take up tik tok.
CKD continues to operate as usual, shipments have just slowed down slightly. I’ve been working on Groot Hospitalities newest Komodo. Lots of detail, so I’ve been enjoying getting lost in the creation of the prints. Last Friday I decorated the kitchen in tiki theme with a live ocean backdrop from youtube projected onto my mom’s silk curtains. I hung lights, we made margaritas and mojitos and pretended we were on vacation. Turn staying home into an adventure and get creative. We actually had a really fun night in.
Aside from tiki parties and all the work, I’ve been journaling a lot lately. I downloaded this app called The Pattern. It tells you your personal pattern in relationships, outlook on life, how to expand your perspective etc based off your birthday and time of birth. I’ve actually become pretty obsessed with it. Something to look forward to each morning, the pattern and my morning coffee. It tells you what you need to flourish in your life, or how to break down walls in order to move forward. I’ve come to realize that certain things are actually much more important to me than I think, and why ignoring certain things in relationships for example will actually not work for me. OK, just wanted to say hi! xx C
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for the past two Saturdays I’ve been teaching a watercolor class live on ig. It’s my heart to just spread some creativity and allow anyone who feels like zoning out from all the noise to join in and have fun with paints. I’ll be doing these every Saturday until quarantine is over. join me this sat at 1 pm eastern. sending my love to you and your families.
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I quietly slipped away to Cabo awhile ago and took my computer with me. CKD has been so busy with multiple projects at once, I needed a change of scenery that would allow me to work in peace and quiet with the sound of the ocean/ leave reality for a bit. Cabo was beautiful. I look back on these photos now and feel thankful for the opportunity to get on an airplane without feeling anxious. What crazy times. I hope everyone is keeping safe, staying home and washing their hands. Praying for this time to pass as fast as possible. x C
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I remember the moment I knew I wanted to move to New York. I was sitting at a bar in the West Village, I remember there were no tables available so we were sat at the window with a ledge big enough just to hold our drinks. The windows were open letting in that New York summer air. Something about that night felt like a movie set. The trees didn’t move, the weather was perfect and I knew, I knew that I would one day live there. The vision was so clear. Betsy and I were recently in LA for our collab with her swimsuit company Unika Swim. Unika specializes in bespoke swimwear which pairs perfectly with CKD. We sourced in the garment district finding chains, rings, and finishes for the collection. And took the time to meet up with as many people as we could. I met so many new people. Their outlook on life and simply how they live their life taught me so much - just from a simple conversation. For the first time in a long time, I started to feel like I was getting a glimpse into what I want my next evolution to look like as a woman, as a business woman, as a brand, and as a company. I haven’t felt this way since that night in the West Village. Lots of vision writing lately! I can feel a shift coming, and I feel like I’ve been hiding from it for a while. I was having breakfast with cinematographer Jordan Oram over the weekend. And we were talking about success, and how fear wants you to hide from it rather than embrace it. He said, “it’s like success has been knocking on my door, and I’ve been too scared to open it, until one day I decided to embrace it. So I opened the door, invited it in to my house and learned to get to know it.” This hit home for me. I feel like I’ve been doing the same thing. My company has been growing in ways that on one hand I always knew was going to happen because I have been envisioning and manifesting these moments for a long time now. But on the other hand I still can’t believe what is happening. Jordan is right though, I’ll miss too many opportunities if I keep ignoring the knock on the door. Well, I too have opened it. I’m no longer afraid of the growth, anything is possible.
