Bali is, without a doubt, a dream destination. But for those who haven’t been, choosing an island within Bali to visit can be a little tricky. How do you pick between the myriad pristine beaches? One half of the London-based resortwear line Kalita, Raechel Temily, chooses Lombok. And she should know; she’s lived in Bali for the last six years.
When her business partner, Kalita al Swaidi, came to visit this year, Raechel gave her the local treatment, taking her on a “sand-dusted, salt-dipped getaway” to explore the island. Naturally, they brought us along.
“While our office is based in London, we do all of the design and development in Bali. It’s where we do all of our hand-dying, pattern making, toiles and first samples. We even shoot our lookbooks here! The creative essence of the brand definitely lives and breathes on this island,” says Raechel.
“I’ve lived here in Bali for almost six years now, and there’s something about it that just gets under your skin and becomes woven into you. They call it the karmic fire island because it’s such an intense little cracker of an experience.
“My partner, Kalita al Swaidi, comes to Bali several times a year. She’s a real Londoner through and through, so it’s always a full immersion for her into what life is like to live and work here: coconuts being cracked in the kitchen, being stuck in traffic jams on the way to the hand-dyer, having to jump on the back of my bike to go work in a café because the electricity has gone out in the studio again. It’s hilarious and frustrating, challenging and magical, all in equal measure.
“We’ve been finishing off our next collection for Resort 2018, and in the midst of all the work and deadlines, I wanted to show Kalita something different this time. So I took her and a couple of our friends to one of the most amazing places I know for a little getaway: the nearby island of Lombok. And this is how it went.”
