WHY not try purple leggings for asanas?

The yoga room in the iconic residence of architect Lorenzo Calma overlooks the swimming pool and the sculptural tropical foliage. The gentle sounds of water gushing from the spout of the roof can be heard while his daughter, Lorena, chants Om and sacred Sanskrit verses.

Her hatha yoga class is all about relaxationlots of meditation in repose, traditional poses held for a minute with coordinated breathing and thoughtful pauses between each position.

Weary of the intense materialism in America, designer Lorena Calma chucked in her Balenciagas and Blahniks for ashram cottons and scrubs. She gave up her position as design director for Gap International, handling the UK and Japanese markets, to become a hatha yoga proponent.

It was but logical for her to develop her own yoga line.

Yoga is my life. I totally transformed in the past four years, says the younger Calma, wearing a yellow bamboo T-shirt which she designed, plus off-white drawstring pants.

Top houses

Calma acquired a degree in fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology and studied tailoring and art at Polimoda in Florence, Italy. She worked as assistant designer for top fashion houses such as Calvin Klein, Kenzo, Valentino menswear and Emmanuel Ungaro and, finally, as design director for Gap.

Designing in Corporate America was not what I had in mind, she says. Youre confronted with the reality that its a business, not art. Students in fashion are not made to understand that. The reality of fashion in America is that you need to surviveto sell and to merchandise. I wasnt excited about that part.

STRETCHABLE cotton-blend tees hug the torso while the shorts dont bunch up while working out.

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Lorena Calma ditches the NY fashion world–and discovers bliss in yoga