Behind the Print: The Four Stories Behind Lara Costafreda's EKOUAER Sleepwear Collection

The EKOUAER Collection asks one quiet question through fabric: what if the sleepwear you reach for at the end of the day was made around an artist's original work rather than a decorative pattern? It does that with four illustrated prints by Barcelona illustrator Lara Costafreda, each placed on 100% mulberry silk and two soft knit blends. The prints are called Secret Garden, Spring Blossoms, Romantic Fairy Tales in Nature, Sea of Flowers, Sea of Dreams, and each one carries its own scene, palette, and intention. This article walks through where each print came from, what it shows, and which silhouettes in the line carry it, so you can choose the story you want to wear rather than just a color.

Key Takeaways

  • The EKOUAER Collection carries four original prints by Barcelona illustrator Lara Costafreda, all rooted in nature and drawn in watercolor, colored pencil, and ink.

  • Secret Garden appears across four silhouettes and is the most widely placed print in the line.

  • Romantic Fairy Tales in Nature is the only print that runs across all three fabrics in the collection: mulberry silk, a modal-cotton blend, and lyocell.

  • Sea of Flowers, Sea of Dreams is exclusive to the silk tie-front short-sleeve set, one of the styles selected by brand friend Vanessa Hudgens.

  • The prints are built to be lived in, not framed, which is the difference between a decorative pattern and wearable art.

Who Is Lara Costafreda

Lara Costafreda is a Barcelona-based illustrator whose practice is described, in her own words, as a love letter to nature. She trained in fashion design and plastic arts across Barcelona, London (Central Saint Martins), and Rio de Janeiro, then took a postgraduate degree in Creative Illustration and Visual Communication at EINA University of Design and Art.

Her work sits at the intersection of illustration and social impact. She develops illustration and creative direction for publications, brands, and agencies internationally, and she is drawn to projects tied to immigration, racism, peace culture, environmentalism, and social justice. That ecological thread is what makes her a fit for a sleepwear collection built around the natural world. These four pajama prints she created for EKOUAER are exclusive originals, far from simple adaptations of stock library assets. Each design carries its own theme and distinct emotional tone, crafting one-of-a-kind wearable art for loungewear.

Why Art Belongs on Sleepwear

Most printed pajamas use a repeat pattern pulled from a library. The EKOUAER Collection works differently: the print is the reason the garment exists, not the trim on it. Lara's illustrations are placed on full fabric widths so the scene runs across the body of the garment, which means the drape and sheen of the material change how the artwork reads as you move.

The collection runs across three fabrics, and the same print can genuinely look like three different artworks depending on the surface. Mulberry silk gives the watercolors a fluid, luminous read. A modal-cotton blend softens the lines into something matte and lived-in. Lyocell adds a cool, smooth finish that keeps fine ink detail crisp. That material choice is not a footnote; it is part of how the art survives being worn. The silk used here is 100% mulberry silk, a natural protein fiber valued for breathability, temperature regulation, and a hand-feel that stays gentle on reactive skin. Ekouaer also keeps its fabrics aligned with OEKO-TEX Standard 100 testing, so the textiles the prints sit on are checked for harmful substances before a single illustration is laid down.

The Four Prints, One by One

  1. Secret Garden

This is the print most people will see first, because it is the most widely placed in the collection, appearing across four silhouettes. The scene is a garden hidden in a corner of the world, where bellflowers, lilies, daffodils, and magnolias bloom together while four fairies dance among them. Each fairy stands for something specific: hope, independence, beauty, and purity. A moon sits at the center of the composition, working as a spiritual thread that holds the dreamy world together.

Lara leaves a line in Catalan at the heart of this print: "La pulsió que mou el món és l'amor." Love is the force that moves the world. Her stated hope for the piece is that it gives the wearer courage and a quiet, entirely her own kind of strength. On a practical level, Secret Garden reads as a floral with a cool, moonlit palette, so it pairs easily with neutral layers and reads as intentional rather than busy.

You can find Secret Garden on the silk cami and ruffle-hem shorts set, where the print wraps a wrap-V camisole cut for warm nights. It also appears on the silk square-neck set with bow-tie straps, a style that softens into something romantic against the bellflower and magnolia motifs.

  1. Spring Blossoms

Spring Blossoms is built on the natural beauty of the Mediterranean and the fields of Spain. Different flowers stand for hope and rebirth, drawn as gentle spirits dancing among leaves. The mood Lara names for this print is healing and inner calm, a gift from the earth that asks you to feel the breath of nature and the softness of the soul amid a busy life.

Visually it is the lightest of the four, with an open, airy composition that lets the silk underneath show through. It appears on the silk cami and shorts set and on the lyocell styles, which means you can pick it in a fluid silk for warm evenings or in a cool, smooth lyocell that keeps the blossom linework crisp through machine washes. If you want one print that reads as fresh and unfussy, this is it.

  1. Romantic Fairy Tales in Nature

This is the narrative print of the four. It is a fairy tale in which sophisticated, elegant animals take a walk: rabbits and royal swans, surrounded by flowers, birds, and butterflies. Lara calls it a love letter to nature, with nature and its animals treated as the queen of the scene, beautiful and delicate and exuberant at the same time.

It is also the only print in the collection that runs across all three fabrics. That makes it the most flexible choice if you care about material as much as motif. On the silk tie-front short-sleeve set it reads as a quiet, storybook luxury. On the modal-cotton blend it becomes something softer and more everyday, the kind of set you reach for on a Sunday morning. On the lyocell it keeps the ink linework sharp. If you are buying one print and want it in the fabric that matches how you actually live, Romantic Fairy Tales in Nature gives you three honest surfaces to choose from.

  1. Sea of Flowers, Sea of Dreams

The fourth print is the most playful and the rarest in the line. It blends flowers with marine animals drawn in an innovative way, where the flowers carry patterns and shapes that recall a child's playground universe. The animals are hidden among the plants, turning the surface into a find-the-creature game. The name is part of the game too: the sea can only hold flowers and dreams in the mind of a child who still believes in a fantasy world. Lara made it with three techniques combined, watercolor, colored pencil, and ink, the same three tools a child reaches for when they first make art.

Sea of Flowers, Sea of Dreams is exclusive to the silk tie-front short-sleeve pajama set, which is one of the styles selected by Ekouaer's brand friend Vanessa Hudgens. That makes it the print to pick if you want the most collectible piece in the drop, the one that is both an artwork and a Vanessa-chosen silhouette. You can see her edit of the collection on the brand's Vanessa Hudgens page.

Which Print Suits You

A quick way to choose, based on mood rather than color:

Print Reads as Best for Where it lives in the collection
Secret Garden Moonlit floral, calm Evenings, gifting Silk cami set, silk square-neck set, silk tie-front set, modal-cotton set
Spring Blossoms Open, fresh, airy Warm nights, everyday Silk cami set, lyocell set
Romantic Fairy Tales in Nature Storybook, narrative All-day wear, any season Silk tie-front set, modal-cotton set, lyocell set
Sea of Flowers, Sea of Dreams Playful, collectible The one special piece Silk tie-front set (Vanessa-selected)

If you want a gift, Secret Garden on the silk square-neck bow-tie set reads as considered and romantic. If you want a piece to actually live in through a season, Romantic Fairy Tales in Nature on the modal-cotton blend is the honest everyday choice. If you want the rare one, Sea of Flowers on the silk tie-front set is the print to keep.

FAQ

Q: Are the prints printed on or woven in?

A: They are original illustrations by Lara Costafreda, reproduced on full fabric widths. The artwork is placed so the scene runs across the garment, not tiled as a small repeat. That placement is what lets the print survive being worn and washed as a real garment.

Q: Which print is the most versatile?

A: Secret Garden, because it appears across four silhouettes and three of them are silk. Its moonlit, cool palette also layers easily with neutral robes and solid separates, so it reads as a coordinated outfit rather than only sleepwear.

Q: Is silk real mulberry silk?

A: Yes. The silk styles in the collection are 100% mulberry silk, chosen for breathability, temperature regulation, and a hand-feel that stays gentle on sensitive skin. Hand washing in cold water with a silk-specific detergent is recommended to keep the prints and the sheen intact.

Q: Which print did Vanessa Hudgens pick?

A: Sea of Flowers, Sea of Dreams, which is exclusive to the silk tie-front short-sleeve set. That set is one of the silhouettes in Vanessa's edit for the brand.

Q: Do the prints look different on different fabrics?

A: They do. The same composition reads as luminous on silk, matte and soft on the modal-cotton blend, and crisp on lyocell. Fabric choice changes how light hits the print and how the scene moves with the body, so the same artwork genuinely has three visual lives across the collection.

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About Ekouaer

Ekouaer is a sleepwear and loungewear brand built around a simple idea: comfort should be something you live in, not something you save. Known for soft pajama sets, inclusive sizing, and approachable prices on the rise, the brand focuses on textured knits, breathable cotton blends, and coordinated sets that move from bed to couch to a quick errand without a costume change.

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