Max Osterweis

Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty of the young New York brand Suno are the latest designers to create a capsule collection for Uniqlo. It's the first time they've collaborated with a larger brand.

On May 20, the retailer will introduce a line of women's clothing that puts the spotlight on the designers' ability to mix prints. Specifically, this collection of sleeveless shirts, t-shirts, tank tops, dresses, skirts, and jeans will combine stripes and florals with a distinctly East-meets-West feeling.

"The inspiration for the collection was Japanese Americana — taking something that felt distinctly American, and then mixing it up in a Suno way," Beatty said. "We wanted to create something sweet, straightforward and easy."

The collaboration will retail from $20 to $40. A look at a few pieces here in the gallery.

Neil Rasmus/BFANYC.com.

Leave it to Suno's Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty to make daring pattern combinations look downright chic. For Fall 2013, a season in which other designers have used bold flashes of color or shown an allegiance to one family of graphics, this duo stuck to their signature master mixing and fused pinstripes, paisley, florals, dots, jacquard, and plaid together with pleasing visual harmony. Three-dimensional decorations included the Swarovski crystals arranged in a geometric pattern on a final grouping of neoprene pieces and tassels that trimmed a tunic and a pair of trousers.

As evidenced by a front row lined with fashion's heavy-hitters, like Jenna Lyons and Joanna Hillman, and icons like Lynn Yaeger and Bill Cunningham, it's clear that Suno has been on a steady rise since its 2009 beginnings. This season we got a new incarnation of Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis's prints — a quirky collection of stripes and delicate, silky florals, punctuated by louder blues, blacks, and purple accents — and even a quirky nod to technology. There was a softness and a sweetness in both the color palette and feminine layering — like a floral peplum to give shape to a midi skirt and a tomboy button-down. But where dainty flowers may border on country-chic, this rendition was crafted with the label's contemporary edge. It's not just the fact that the florals had a subtle metallic sheen, but an expertise in proportional play that took this lineup beyond any literal references to traditional Americana.

• Trends: Crop tops, stripes, florals, peplum, tunics.
• Colors: Soft blues, grays, peaches, with pops of purple, black, and bright blue.
• Key Piece: The floral crop tops and pencil skirts.
• Accessories: Embroidered, printed peep-toe booties.
• Who Should Wear It: Stylers with a quirky kind of charm; Solange Knowles, Elizabeth Olsen, and Kirsten Dunst.

Take a dash of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, a splash of Issey Miyake (as seen through the lens of Irving Penn), and mix in a heavy dose of folk, ethnic-inspired prints, and ticking stripes, and what do you get? A feast for the eyes, for sure — or Suno's Spring 2013 collection. Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty combined all with their usual deftness, resulting in a collection that not only felt fresh, but also felt right in line with the aesthetic they've been building steadily for the past few seasons. The use of some high-shine fabrics — in the form of printed silks and metallic novelty chiffons — added a hint of glamour, while midriff-baring tops, drawstring jackets, and ruffle-bottomed skirts lent a youthful edge.

"This season we really wanted to zone in on pieces that women will want to wear every day," Suno designer Erin Beatty explained. While that may translate to relaxed silhouettes and easy downtown separates — boxy jackets, flared skirts, wide-legged trousers, slouchy shifts — it also means plenty of pieces that serve as excellent canvases for showcasing what Beatty and partner Max Osterweis do best: that is, creating dreamy, eye-popping prints. For Resort 2013, those prints come in a delightful array of colors and sizes, from rose-hued florals to jumbo graphics — all enticingly mixed and perfectly paired.

>> Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty sourced Hawaii and its tourists for the beach scenes and florals that graced their heavily-printed Suno Resort 2012 collection. “Resort is always less about artistic expression and more about having fun,” Beatty said. “After all, isn’t going on vacation supposed to be about having a good time?” Necklaces were fashioned from South American worry dolls and swimwear pieces, too, got some play.

We can't help but join in on the Suno love fest. After all, before Kate Bosworth was spotted donning Suno's tie-dyed dress at Coachella, we were already smitten with designer Max Osterweis's amazing prints and effortless cuts. For Fall, the collection calls upon a variety of inspiring notions ranging from 1960s interiors to East African textiles. We're completely excited about the endless array of punchy patterns which will undoubtedly shed light to our per usual darker Winter palette. Even more interesting, Osterweis and design partner Erin Beatty produce the majority of their collection in Kenya in hopes of improving the social and economic conditions in the struggling country. "When I started this I felt like — this may sound kind of big — but I felt like I wanted to create a new paradigm for what luxury goods should be by going back to an older model. It’s not enough for things to be beautiful, but the process has to be beautiful and the intent has to be beautiful," said Osterweis. We'll buy that.