Yay Abe and Something Good Studio launch a new knitwear collection featuring wearable art pieces, including the From Her Vase blanket, Peace Vessel tee and Rooted coat. A collaboration built on craft, storytelling and slow-made design.
This season, Something Good Studio teams up with Cape Town artist Yay Abe for a collab that pushes wearable art into a new space. It’s the first chapter in a longer partnership, and they’re starting strong with three standout pieces: a blanket, a tee, and a coat, all built around Russell Abrahams’ bold, joy-heavy illustrations.
The idea is simple. Take Yay Abe’s signature style and translate it into knitwear that feels both functional and collectible. Art you can live with. Art you can wear.
Russell says the partnership works because everyone respects the craft. Slow processes. Real detail. Pieces made to last.
The Artist: Yay Abe
If you’ve been anywhere near SA’s creative scene, you know Yay Abe. He’s worked with everyone from adidas to Woolworths to The Lion King. Lately, he’s been moving away from fast-paced brand work and into slower, more thoughtful painting and illustration. This collaboration marks his first big step into textile-focused wearable art, a direction that aligns with where he is creatively right now.
The hero piece of the collection
The From Her Vase blanket is a heavy, jacquard-knit artwork built from one of Yay Abe’s most detailed illustrations. It’s a story about care, connection and everyday rituals, centred on a woman beside a peace-marked vase. Water flows from above. Plants grow. Life keeps moving.
The design draws inspiration from two places: blue-and-white ceramics found in many South African homes, and the mural traditions of Mexican masters like Diego Rivera, influences Russell picked up while painting in Guadalajara earlier this year.
It’s warm. It’s bold. It’s functional. Something you can throw over your shoulders today or hang on your wall for years. Heirloom energy.
“I want people to use the blanket but also at some point be super holy about it and go ‘this is this coveted piece of artwork that we’ve bought.’ But give it to their guests and say “here you go, you can use it to keep warm”. – Russell Abrahams
Peace Vessel Tee
A graphic tee, but elevated.
The Peace Vessel tee pulls a small detail from the blanket, a vessel with a peace sign, and turns it into an embroidered emblem on a knitted unisex tee. The stripes aren’t printed. They’re knitted straight into the fabric, thanks to Something Good Studio’s knitwear label, Romaria. That detail gives the tee real weight and longevity.
Wear it as a laid-back piece or pass it on to someone you love. It’s built with intention in every thread.
Rooted Coat
If the blanket is the centrepiece and the tee is the everyday favourite, the Rooted coat is the grown-up sibling. Calm. Confident. Sharp.
It’s a calf-length jacquard-knit coat with a kimono-like silhouette and flowers rising from the hem, a visual story about grounding yourself and letting growth move upward. The floral influence also nods to Russell’s early work in botanical illustration, a part of his practice that shaped him long before the bold, graphic style he’s known for today.
This piece is about self-worth. Quiet strength. Wearing your confidence without having to say a word.
“When you wear this coat it’s like you’re rooted in your confidence and your self worth and all of those things. And then, these flowers are kind of blooming up a little bit from you. Flowers is a big theme throughout my work. – Russell Abrahams
Why This Collection Matters
This collab isn’t about trend-chasing. It’s about craft. Slow-making. Respect for the artists and makers behind every piece. The kind of work that sits between streetwear and fine art, wearable pieces that hold meaning, story and intention.
Maybe, this is the start of a partnership with a lot more to come?
