A City Girl Guide to Miami courtesy of doing youu
A City Girl Guide to Miami courtesy of doing youu
And a gift guide for the avid reader.
Don’t we all think about warmer weather this time of the year? This City Girl Guide edition takes us to the sunny, warm, gorgeous home to Art Basel, Miami with help from Maria Echeverry of doing youu, a creative brand designing one-of-a-kind pieces in custom designs. A capsule line of casual apparel, accessories and art prints designed by Maria articulating in the theme of her visual artistry.
If you follow her on Instagram, then you know that the aim of the brand is to uplift your mood and inspire you to create.
DNAMAG: Can you remember the first time you were influenced by art in some way?
Maria Echeverry: Yes! I have an older brother who was always skateboarding when we were young and I was fascinated by the artwork on the decks because they were in a way an extension of your personality so I was inspired by that and how fun they could be!
DNAMAG: doingyouu is all about positive messages, I know that whenever I come across your posts it plays as a reminder to myself to keep going and to stop and do something good for me. Were the feel good quotes part of your creative process that also lends itself to the brand message?
Maria Echeverry: Yes definitely I think that now with social media it’s easy to self-doubt about a lot of things and to me I wanted to create a place for people to come get inspired and remind themselves that you should always DO YOUU whatever that means to you! But always do what makes you happy could be getting your nails done or achieving that goal in your personal life! I struggled a lot with my mental health before and during Covid and I felt very alone in my thoughts so I wanted to create something that resonated with people to let myself know like hey you’re not alone.. And hopefully, translate that feeling to others.
DNAMAG: What was or is the creative climb for you? How did you start and where do you want it to go?
Maria Echeverry: So I was working as a visual merchandiser for a luxury cruise company and I didn’t want to do the typical 9-5, I really hated it. I would work on the side doing creative consulting and graphic design and when Covid hit I was like its time to do my own thing and that’s when doing youu happened! My wish for doing youu is to eventually become a streetwear brand!
DNAMAG: If you weren’t an artist what would you be doing?
Maria Echeverry: I would be a stylist, I love making people feel good.
MARIA’S MIAMI CITY GUIDE
What’s one food that’s very Miami that you’d recommend to out-of-towners and best place to get it?
Cuban food and you should go to Versailles Restaurant
The most underrated place whether it’s a store, restaurant, beach etc that people should check out?
Best affordable dinner spot(s)?
Your favorite place(s) to see art
The city go-to’s for creative people visiting?
So you can go to the design district and visit Dale Zine shop and next to them you’ll see a skate shop called Andrew which is fun! You can do a lot of fun things around that area, there is a store named eliou worth checking out and also for coffee and flowers check out Navi.
Lastly, what you shouldn’t do while visiting Miami?
Don’t go to Lincoln Road it’s not what it use to be, people that visit Miami always want to make a stop there but it’s not worth it at all.
Follow @doingyouu
GIFT GUIDE FOR THE AVID READER
As an avid reader myself, I tend to forewarn my closest circle to not gift me books unless I’ve sent a list of ones I want. True, because the thing about gifting books is that even with a gift receipt, sometimes the paperback or hardcover of preference is no longer available and/or the prices have changed, which altogether becomes a hassle of a transaction. Better to either spoil the avid reader with a gift card to Bookshop or other independent, smaller bookshops in their city, or you can go with these perfect gift options:
Room Service by Michael McGregor is a gift that I was given by a friend who knew of my obsession with room service. This Los Angeles illustrator has collected photos and illustrations drawn on hotel stationery as his travel mementos. It’s a great coffee table book.
Boat and Tote canvas bag by L.L. Bean is what I call a recreational legacy bag, because any book lover knows how roomy, spacious and sturdy this tote can be. A true classic that will outlast all other totes
Reading Journal by Wonder is a necessity for the rising BookTok’r. Pages to jot notes and keep track of their monthly reads.
Unique bookends handcrafted from jesmonite marble by Studio Octave
Kindle/Tablet stand pillow by Viozon. Look how cozy this girl is laid back, reading on her kindle in total relaxation. There’s even 2 holders for snack, bev or smartphone.
Swell sticky tabs by Poketo, this is especially a hit with design book nerds.
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5 GOOD THINGS
Recently watched this interview w/Sofia Coppola discussing Wong Kar Wai’s classic film In the Mood For Love and now wondering if this inspired much of the style of her film Marie Antoinette
A TikTok account that I’ve been loving is Christina in Copenhagen, her daily vlogs are calming and a good, realistic day in the life. In a recent video she mentioned wanting to transition to doing content creation full-time, I’d like to help her out with that. Check out her videos and follow!
This video of Kate Moss babbling in I suppose is an interview slash therapy session?
Everyone leaving Twitter /X for good. Started out as social media only to turn into a social monster.
My weekend plans is to ignore friends (for self-care, no other reason, they get it), read, write and watch the Martha Stewart documentary. Hope you all have a lovely weekend and do something really nice for yourself!
1111 (! the time rn, and it’s a full moon)
DNAMAG
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