I’ve been following Obakki for years and I’m convinced it just gets better and better with each season. Through all the years that it has been in business, this Vancouver label has raised the bar for locally designed and produced goods. Not only are the clothes up to par with most international brands of the same type (example: Opening Ceremony), the overall brand concept is tight, from branding to flagship store design and, of course, the Obakki Foundation.

As a label, Obakki sticks to minimalism and does it really well. Along with signature draping, asymmetrical silhouettes with intriguingly placed seams, Obakki always offers fitted, structured garments. Everything in the collection can easily be mixed and matched, which is what I usually consider to be a fluid collection.

Obakki went a little lighter and breezier this season with soft silks, neutral colours and delicate summer prints. I’m pretty head-over-heels in love with the blurry watercolour prints that showed up in the forms of mini dresses, tunics, rompers and, in the most striking way, a stunningly draped maxi dress, easily my favourite piece in the collection. Another intriguing fabric is the gradient fade (or ombré) knit, used in their previous collection and reborn here in the form of a breezy little sweater with a loose bat sleeve that is so perfect for spring.

While Obakki’s inspiration for this collection is “the adventurous spirit of a rock-and-roll road trip,” I could see a lot of the garments in St. Tropez just as easily. The little white wrap tunic dress taking a stroll on the beach, sunhat in tow; the watercolour floral mini enjoying a glass of white at a street-side cafe; the cascading asymmetrical ruffle dress twirling away at a dance club… now I’m longing for summer.

Obakki is available on obakki.com as well as on shopbop.com.To view images from the Vancouver S/S ’11 presentation, head to Obakki’s Facebook page.