Posted by Samantha Sung
on May 10, 2026
Pastel Magnolia · A Collection for May
Pastel Magnolia
By Samantha Sung · May 2026
Pastel Magnolia is the spring-summer collection from Samantha Sung built around a single painted peony print, scaled across soft pastel ground colors: white with lilac, indigo on white, soft pink, soft sea blue, and soft green, designed to be worn on Mother's Day and the gentle weeks of pre-spring. The collection includes four signature silhouettes (the Eva, Rose, Audrey, and Aster dresses), is produced in Bali with Italian fabrics.
There is something about Mother's Day that feels different from every other holiday. It isn't about a gift you stack up against a list. It's the one day that belongs entirely to her. Pastel Magnolia was made for that morning. Real flower prints, not graphic ones. Pastels that feel like a pre-spring sky. Soft, graceful, with the kindness of heart woven right into the fabric.
Why Florals, and Why These Particular Flowers
When I think about what a woman wears on Mother's Day, I keep coming back to flowers. Mostly when they buy for Mother's Day, it is a flower in some form. A floral print, a ribbon, an ombre. But not so graphic. More of the rose, the real flower. Roses that look like roses.
Pastel Magnolia is a print that does not shout. It speaks. The peony at its heart was painted from a single bloom and scaled across the fabric with the care of a study, not the speed of a pattern. When you wear it, the print does not arrive in the room before you do. You arrive together.
The Pre-Spring Palette
I always choose more of the pastel for Mother's Day. Powder blue with blush. Soft pink scattered on white. Indigo dropped against a white peony. Soft sea blue with leaves the color of an early garden.
It should be more pastel rather than very strong, because when I imagine the mother wearing the dress on her day, it is almost a pre-spring dress. The kind of morning when the world is waking up but still soft around the edges. The colors should match that quiet beginning.
"Roses that look like roses. Pastels that feel like a pre-spring morning when everything is just beginning to bloom."
The Four Dresses
The collection moves through four silhouettes I love most for this season. The Eva Dress in white with pastel lilac florals (crew neck, three-quarter sleeve, ramie maxi length). The Rose Dress on soft green ground (crew neck, sleeveless, long). The Audrey Dress #2 in soft pink (shirt collar, three-quarter sleeve, cotton stretch). The Aster Dress in white with soft sky blue florals (shirt collar, three-quarter sleeve, midi musola).
Each one was cut for movement. They don't sit on the body. They breathe with it.
What Our Bali Team Captured
The photos came back from our team in Bali absolutely stunning. They have a gift for keeping a collection cohesive. They understood that these dresses are not just pretty. They are graceful and elegant, with the kindness of heart I am always talking about. You can see it in every frame: the natural light, the way the fabric falls, the dignity of the wearer.
What a blessing it is to have them. The collection looks the way I felt when I was designing it.
The Meaning Behind the Day
Holiday content is something I have always struggled with. It feels overdone. But when I think about my mother, and yours, it isn't really about the dress at all. It is about the moment of saying it out loud. Thank you. We appreciate you. You created this world.
Mother's Day is the only day that is hers alone. No siblings to share it with. No Christmas list to compete against. The one day of the year where a gift goes only to her, where she is not split between obligations. It is the day to give her what she has been longing for all year.
That is what Pastel Magnolia is for. The dress is the vessel. The day is the message.
Designer's Notes
What inspired the Pastel Magnolia print?
The Pastel Magnolia print began with a single peony, painted in soft watercolor and scaled across a pastel palette: white with lilac, indigo on white, soft pink, soft sea blue, and soft green ground. We wanted real flowers (roses that look like roses), not graphic interpretations. The print was scaled to read as elegant and quiet, with the kindness of heart woven into every panel of fabric.
What fabrics are used in the Pastel Magnolia collection?
The Pastel Magnolia collection is built around natural-fiber bases: ramie for structure on the maxi silhouettes, cotton stretch for the day dresses, and cotton musola for the breezy midi looks. The fabrics were chosen because they feel beautiful as well as look beautiful. They breathe and soften as you wear them.
Where is the Pastel Magnolia collection produced?
Like all Samantha Sung pieces, Pastel Magnolia is produced in Bali, Indonesia by our atelier team. The fabrics and finishing are sourced and developed in Italy. Italian craft, Balinese hands, and a designer who lives between both.
Which silhouettes are in the collection?
Four signature silhouettes: the Eva Dress (crew neck, 3/4 sleeve, ramie maxi), the Rose Dress (crew neck, sleeveless, long cotton stretch), the Audrey Dress #2 (shirt collar, 3/4 sleeve, long cotton stretch), and the Aster Dress (shirt collar, 3/4 sleeve, midi cotton musola). Each is offered in the Pastel Magnolia print across multiple ground colors.
How should Pastel Magnolia dresses be cared for?
Dry clean only is the gentlest care for the print and the fabric structure. If hand washing is necessary, use cool water and a mild soap, lay flat to dry, and steam. never iron directly. to keep the print's colors true.
Buy the Collection
For the day that is only hers.
Shop Pastel Magnolia
