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Elizabeth Giardina aspires to have the most edited wardrobe possible. To her, that’s less about owning “fewer but better” items, but rather, owning the best versions of those pieces—and then holding onto them for as long as she can. It’s a mindset that not only aligns with her personal values, but with her work as creative director of Another Tomorrow as well. Giardina joined the New York-based label nearly three years ago after being tapped by founder Vanessa Barboni Hallik, who founded the company in 2020 in the hopes of creating elegant, timeless clothing that was also ethically and sustainably made.
Giardina, who grew up in Missouri and studied fine art as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, tells Vogue she always wanted to work as a designer. She moved to New York in 2005, where she helmed creative teams at Derek Lam and Proenza Schouler, and helped build out the 10 Crosby and White Label divisions for both brands. Of her current role, she says that the design approach she takes is unlike anything she’s done in the past. “Instead of starting from a concept, I have to really think about what I can ethically get and what materials are available to me,” she says. “The idea of thinking about design that starts from raw materials is more holistic and rich, and something that I never had the privilege of doing before.”
Giardina says working this closely with suppliers and mills has helped her form a connection to the earth, which in turn has made her “a more patient and thoughtful designer.” Adds Giardina, “If a material doesn’t work out, I can’t just source anything in the market for production. The way that we’re working has really forced me to slow down and to problem solve in ways that I’ve never had to.”
This relationship has also made her that much more mindful of the brands she shops and the clothes she puts on her body. She wears almost exclusively pieces made of natural fibers (organic cotton, linen, cruelty-free silk, and wool) and breathable fabrics in fluid silhouettes, predominantly from Another Tomorrow, as she wear-tests nearly everything she designs. Aesthetically, Giardina says she has always been consistent in how she dresses: crisp and clean, monochrome, and edited. “The idea of getting ready in the morning and it being super complicated is very frustrating to me. I’m designing for the life that I’m trying to lead, which is a life that’s fairly effortless, that leaves time for other things.”
Having worked in fashion for well over a decade, Giardina says she’s not big on cycling through clothing—nor acquiring too much of it either. “I am in this constant process of editing my wardrobe, and it’s a lifelong effort to make my closet as tight as possible,” she says. Collecting vintage clothing and jewelry is, however, a passion, and she’s amassed a selection of tailoring that she loves, but other than that one of her most hardworking pieces is a pair of vintage Levi’s that she’s been wearing—and repairing—for years.
Giardina also loves mending and the idea of owning “living garments”: well-worn clothes that are patched over or embroidered to get a second, third, or even fourth lease on life. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get [my closet] to where I want it to be, but I try to be really careful about what I bring in. That’s probably the hardest part of me having an edited wardrobe. Sometimes I have to have that beautiful dress that I’m only going to wear five times, but it’s 50 years old, and I love it,” she says.
Weekday School Run
My husband and I take turns dropping my older son off at school. This is me taking him to school before walking to the train and going to work. So on the rare occasion that I do work from home, I might be a little bit more relaxed, but this is very much the way that I dress when I take him to school. I’m wearing our Convertible Trench Coat here with the classic Tabby Boot with a heel. I love that shoe because I feel like it’s really comfortable for my feet. I probably wear them too much because of that. I’m not a big sneaker person, so I love a more elevated shoe, but it has to also be comfortable, which is always challenging. And then if I find something that I like, I will generally stick to it. I’m a typical New Yorker in that I love black: I love to wear black and I love how I look in black. I love the fact that you can wear this coat multiple ways, and the fabric is a hemp viscose that just feels really cool and light on the body. It’s not a heavy weighted trench coat so it’s really nice as a transitional piece.
Easy Draping
This is our cruelty-free silk top. It’s a convertible blouse that has a pleat at the shoulder and big sleeves. You can wear it buttoned to the front, or you can cross it over—there are little buttons on the inside. I love a button-down shirt and styling it 10 different ways in a day. Throwing the collar up, bringing it down, doing the same thing with the cuff. This one has a big soft cuff that you can flip up or unbutton and let it hang and be long. Like I said earlier, I’m really thoughtful about how things feel on the body. I like things to feel really good on my skin, and I like the way that this silk feels. It’s just incredibly light and really easy to wear. I’m wearing it with a vintage sterling silver earring from Mexico.
Old Favorites on Repeat
This is the same baby tee that I have on in the denim look (which you can’t really see). We call it our “fitted tee.” It’s an organic cotton Tencel. I wear this T-shirt all the time—either as a base layer or as is. I love messing around with my clothes, so I don’t really feel like I’m somebody that’s dressed and finished when I leave the house. I’m always in transition, and I love how the sleeve is pushed up here. I’m wearing it with our recycled nylon full skirt that’s lined in cotton. So it’s a big skirt that’s beautiful and swishy when it walks. And then I’m wearing it with a vintage Bottega Veneta loafer that I’ve had forever. I’m constantly having it resoled; it’s just the perfect soft shoe, but still has that kind of crispness to it visually. I’m wearing it with these two silver bracelets that my ex-boyfriend gave me about 15 years ago that I’ve been wearing ever since that are from that store Love Adorned when it was just a tiny tattoo parlor and they had some jewelry in the front. And then I’m wearing it with a vintage silver linked bracelet that’s engraved and something that my mom and I share and trade back and forth.
Cool in All White
This look is very indicative of how I dress. This is a white day. Some days are black days, some days are white days. I’m wearing here our recycled nylon cocoon anorak. It has a drawcord on the bottom, so when you walk, it opens up, cloud-like. I like how it feels on the body and how it looks—it’s really breezy. I’m wearing it with our white organic cotton denim carpenter jean. Everything’s a little bit oversized and I like the idea that underneath this jacket there’s a very tiny tee, so as I was walking around with the jacket open, or later on, when I had it tied around my waist, I had this tiny proportion with the big jean and the bigger cocoon jacket that evens out the body. I’m wearing the same Saint Laurent sunglasses, Margiela boots, and drop earrings as before.
Black on Black With a Twist
This is our Fluid Crop Trench, which is made out of a beautiful Italian viscose. I’m wearing it with the matching pant. This look is a little eighties. I like the idea that it’s a trench, but that you can wear it as a blazer. It just has a nice volume around the body, which I think looks really nice with the flat-front trouser.
