There’s a certain kind of creature that lives for the thrill of discovery. Not the grand discoveries, mind you—lost cities, buried treasure, secret islands—but the tiny, shimmering ones. A glass bead in a sidewalk crack, a bit of embroidery at the bottom of a flea-market bin; a pearly button, iridescent even after decades lost. 

This creature is the maximalist magpie bird, a keeper of trinkets and the patron saint of beautiful odds and ends. She follows her own path, finding joy in what might get overlooked by some. She doesn’t follow rules or trends; and she certainly doesn’t do a perfectly edited color palette. She’s about curating the unexpected into something unique.

Naturally, her nest is filled with possibilities. To watch her work is to witness an unparalleled sort of curation. “We were Googling magpies building their nests,” Andrew Steiner, Product Artist Manager at MOTHER, laughs, “and there’s all kinds of crazy stuff in there.” 

A magpie’s nest may hold messy multitudes, but there’s also something wholly inspiring and relatable going on. After all, who among us doesn’t want to pile on our favorite things? Whether glossy, embroidered or eccentric, the act of collecting tells the story about what you love. As Andrew puts it, a magpie is “enthusiastic about special things.”

It’s this free-spirited love of curation that we tapped for our latest Spring collection.

The inspiration for the collection began with an old book Steiner found years ago, The Magpie Book of Stories. With its bubbly, 1970s typography and childlike illustrations, it couldn’t help but capture the imagination. “We always just loved this artwork… but didn’t really know how to build out a thing around it,” he says.

Then something clicked: Why not build the collection the same way a magpie builds? The team began layering. First color: jewel and earth tones for brilliance-meets-grounding. Then texture: crochet knits, faux-fur, leather and embroidery. Then finally, mood: a psychedelic 70s swirl filled with bohemian touches that call to mind flower children in all their joyful mish-mashing. “We sort of felt like that was an appropriate time period,” Andrew says. “A lot of the jeans have flares… there’s a real 70s undertone to everything.”

Each piece became a small discovery, not unlike a magpie’s wild treasure trove: a soft, slouchy sweatshirt with re-drawn vintage lettering; flared denim scattered with digitally printed patchwork in snippets of scanned fabrics; slouchy jackets edged with custom lace and embroidered flowers.

If the collection feels handmade, that’s deliberate, too. “We pride ourselves on being able to see the hand in stuff,” Steiner explains. “We want it to look like an artisan did this and took time and made it special.” Trust, someone did: Many of the prints and lace were completely drawn by hand.

Some pieces became instant hits among the team early on. One standout sweater—an embroidered, riotous masterpiece—was a particular favorite of Steiner’s: “It’s got everything going on in there,” he says of the jumble of smiley faces and blooms. Other items, like The Heyday Hustler Sneak, carry that same spirit forward—flared, embellished and chaotic in the best way possible. “It really gets the whole vibe,” Steiner says.

This vibe continues in the way the collection is styled, too. Think: belts over jackets, sporty tees paired with embroidered denim and silk scarves.

But who is this Magpie in real life? Well, she’s a collector, of course. And not just of clothes, but also of moments and memories. She’s the type who pulls over on road trips when she spots a cool-looking antique store; the type who brings back a strange little object from every trip. “She’s picking up that little thing,” Steiner says. “Bringing it back to her nest… I would imagine this person’s house is just as eclectic as the way they dress. They walk in and you’re like, Who is that? I want to meet that person.”

Travelers, artists and the surf-hippie days of 1970s California counterculture also informed the mix, along with Stevie Nicks and MOTHER’s own founder, Lela Becker—a self-described magpie herself.

Still, the heart of the Magpie collection is really about marching to the beat of your own drum and wearing what makes you feel best. “You want to feel unique, you want to feel special,” Steiner says. 

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