CBAAF, short for Come Back As A Flower, launched in November 2018 by a designer who goes by Esper, taking its name from a Stevie Wonder song. Every piece is hand-dyed in Los Angeles from 100 percent recycled, biodegradable cotton, which means the color work is done by hand rather than at a mill and no two pieces come out identical. Signature items include the Oatmeal Set hoodie-and-sweatpant pairings, plus tees, shorts and upcycled vintage pieces.
The label started in New York and moved to a Mid-City Los Angeles studio in the summer of 2019. A Vogue feature in February 2020 drove roughly $50,000 in sales in a single month, and the brand made its New York Fashion Week debut that September. It is now stocked by SSENSE, Nordstrom, Browns Fashion and Urban Outfitters, and it also sells directly through its own site.
There is no storefront, as this is an online and wholesale brand run out of the LA studio. For anyone looking for hand-dyed basics made with some care about where the cotton came from, it is a good place to start. Shop the collection online.
CBAAF (Come Back As A Flower)