Maria Darling wears the darling claw clip, the dentist nursing smock and the knee highs in blue microdot.
I had grand plans to write to you from London, from Paris, but trying to sell the SS26 collection to stores during our Paris showroom proved to be enough.
I did however manage to meet Maria Darling.
The kind of London girl who kisses you on both cheeks because she spends so much time in Paris. She's a folk singer, her project Avice Caro reminds you that England is an old old place with a pagan past. She's a romantic, and I can confirm after a morning playing dress ups with her in the new collection she has the off-kilter sexiness of a Niamh Galea girl.
I interviewed Maria about her art, her life in London and how she feels about beauty and of course I got her DRESSED!
Maria Darling wears the darling claw clip, the dentist nursing smock, the multiway bikini in lolly stripe and the knee highs in blue microdot.
1. Who are you? How do you spend your days?
My name is Maria and I am a folk singer and songwriter based in London, England performing under the name Avice Caro. I spend most of my free time with my headphones in listening to music, walking around writing songs, or looking out the window.
2. Are you working on any exciting projects at the moment?/ Do you have any personal goals right now? Anything you hope to achieve in 2025?
My most recent songs currently exist as notes app sketches and voice memos so it would be nice to flesh them out in a studio. My biggest goal right now is to find a way to make this record properly. Otherwise I guess I’ll just make another one like Myth weaving, which was made on my iPhone, or Home Demos which was made in my guitarist’s living room on an old tape recorder.In the meantime, there’s a live album in the works with strings, cellos, musical saw which I’m pretty excited about. Sounds so spooky.
Maria wears the lace trimmed bunny ears, the office bow dress in bubblegum and the darling yellow knee high socks.
3. 3 places anyone visiting London must go to?
You must go to the Thames river and look at how it flows through the city, it’s glorious, even more glorious if you are looking at it while sailing the Uber boat to Greenwich. Secondly, a walk around Hampstead Heath. And dare I say… the pub… for a cheeky pint.
4. What is your perfect way to spend a Sunday?
Wake up bright and early, look at the sky, drink a cup of English tea, make a delicious omelette with mushrooms and dill, look at the birds through my window, go to church and listen to organ music, walk around the city by myself listening to Tchaikovsky, eat a Sunday roast with my wonderful friends, read some book in a cosy place, write the perfect song spontaneously, spend time with family, an evening walk through the trees, an unexpected phone call from someone I love, full moon hanging over my head.
Maria wears the lace trimmed bunny ears and the office bow dress in bubblegum.
5. Any lessons learnt recently?
Forgiveness, peace & grace.
6. What makes you happy?
Seeing my loved ones laughing and smiling. Pigeons, nature, swimming, the moon. Chance encounters, little miracles, true love's kiss. When there is a beautiful rain. The trees.
Maria wears the ghost shift dress.
7. What advice would you give your 18 year old self?
Oh goodness, there are too many things. This is impossible.
8. What music is exciting you at the moment? Any recommendations for us?
I came across an amazing lady on TikTok called Precious who makes experimental keyboard music. In her videos she’s surrounded by a million different keys all stacked on top of each other like a pile of books and she crashes down on them with her hands making the most extraordinary sound. She’s so cool her name is preciousplayspiano you have to check her out.
Maria wears the logo removal baby tee and the secret pocket gym shorts in misty jade.
9. How do you act with love, reject shame and dress how you feel?
It’s important to remember that beauty comes from within so whatever you choose to wear on your body is an extension of that. You should never feel ashamed about how you choose to express yourself because you are intrinsically beautiful (unless you express yourself in a mean way, in which case you are ugly). So if for whatever reason if you do happen to be feeling ashamed, you probably have done something wrong and maybe you should think about that and be a better person.
Listen to Avice Caro Home Demos album here.
Maria wears the multiway bikini, the puff shorts in lolly stripe, the peignoir cover up in micro dot wool gauze and the party pantyhose in banana.
