Mandate of Heaven

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Hyper-fashionable clothing line Mandate of Heaven is the brainchild of NYU grad Carissa Ackerman, who started making reconstituted vintage clothing while in college, and who now runs the business out of a Bushwick studio with her illustrator partner, Ariel Chriqui, and cats Extra and Guppy. Even before graduation, Ackerman had established herself with a bevy of boutique owners in lower Manhattan, but while Mandate of Heaven items are still available in other parts of New York and Europe, this Bushwick studio is where the pieces are designed, stitched, and primarily sold. Besides a line of custom-made organic-denim jeans, all of Ackerman’s designs are one-of-a-kind—constructed from the best fabrics she can salvage from flea markets, attics, and eBay. From snug-fitting lace-collared bodices to flannel-topped black dresses, each piece is an eccentric mélange of flapperish fashions and contemporary cuts. Ackerman’s signature piece is a Little Red Riding hood that can be buttoned to any number of Mandate tops or tied under the chin as a stand-alone accessory. Alterations will add about twenty bucks to price tags in the mid-to-low triple digits—but some find the uniqueness priceless. — Alex Littlefield

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