It's no surprise that Brooklyn-based clothing designer MONICA PATEL-COHN is approached by strangers wanting to buy one of her beautiful caftans right off her body. Two New York had its beginnings, Patel-Cohn muses, when she had one of those defining moments at her wedding in Liguria, Italy. Half her relatives (her father is Indian and her mother Italian) arrived wearing gorgeous sarees, and she was smitten. A few years later, when very pregnant with her second child, and looking in vain for hot weather clothing solutions, she found herself and an "amazing friend" transforming vintage saris into lovely caftans and tunics. "Comfort is paramount to me... but with grace," she says. And her romantic caftans deliver both: There are no garish Bollywood tones here—only lovely saturated hues and intricately wrought patterns and embellishments. Patel-Cohn hand-picks every sari (so no two are alike) and then launders out the heavy starch so each garment has a super soft drape and feel. Two New York's caftans, tunics and dresses are wonderful for travel, for women who don't like overly body-conscious fits, and of course, for the hotter days of summer, though Patel-Cohn tweaks them for cooler weather by mixing them with patterns and textures, and layering them with boots, leather and knits.

Here, the 10 things that keep Monica Patel-Cohn inspired. (Hopefully inspired enough to make a winter-centric collection.)