Ask Oakland designer Kristina McConnico how to describe her new women’s line Lacson Ravello, and she’ll happily admit that it’s about the contradictions.

“It’s a little bit California and relaxed,” says McConnico, 43. “But also a little bit preppy — and a touch bohemian.”

Photo: Andrew Paynter

Inspired by the casual urban cool of French designer Isabel Marant and the minimalist lines of APC, McConnico decided to launch her made-in-San Francisco label after more than two decades of fashion design experience working for lesser-known start-ups and iconic Bay Area brands such as Levi’s, Gymboree, Old Navy and Bebe.

Her summer collection debuted on her web shop in late August with five go-to silhouettes in natural fabrics — a poncho, dress short, blouse, pant and dress — that McConnico envisioned as the key pieces any busy, modern woman might pack in her suitcase.

Fall debuts in early October with six separates in premium Japanese fabrics, including a leopard-print camouflage jacket, a chambray culotte and a jersey drop-waist dress. The collection was inspired by the outdoors and her exploration in Marin’s Muir Woods.

“The silhouettes really came out of my own frustration with trying to find clothes for myself,” says McConnico, who designs from her sunny studio cottage behind her North Oakland home and produces out of a factory in San Francisco. “It’s that ubiquitous problem — I’d shop, and things were either too dressy or too casual.”

Lacson Ravello strikes that ideal balance between easy and put together: The Sayulita poncho in a white-and-cobalt blue textured print, inspired by McConnico’s travels to Mexico, looks equally fresh dressed up with a pair of slim trousers and heels or thrown over jeans and a T-shirt for a beach outing.

With quality details such as finished inside binding, YKK zippers, drawstrings with leather stoppers, and carefully thought-out pocket placement on each garment, McConnico designs for the sophisticated, West Coast woman who values small-batch production and craftsmanship details from the inside out.

“She’s a Bay Area girl,” says McConnico. “She works hard and plays hard. She needs a wardrobe that’s just as versatile.”

— Nerissa Pacio Itchon

As seen in the San Francisco Chronicle Oct. 9, 2015

Shop online: www.lacsonravello.com