If there’s one word to describe Trish Wescoat Pound’s approach to clothing it is practicality. In the four years since she founded TWP, she’s established a signature brand of effortless cool that can be easily adaptable to any number of women’s wardrobes. Yes, “effortless” is a cliché word in fashion, but how else to describe the way her trompe l’oeil double-layered button-down shirt can automatically add excitement to anything it is paired with? Or her paper-thin leather pieces, especially a halter-dress with real day-to-night potential when layered underneath a simple collarless jacket and worn with nubby tights?

“Pre-fall is a transitional season for us,” Wescoat Pound explained during a recent showroom appointment. “Especially right now when fall can be so warm—it’s all about layering.” Her light and soft cashmere coats are the exact thing for those first days the temperature starts to drop, as is a woven A-line leather skirt in a no-nonsense yet fun color palette of blues, browns, and cream.

Many designers boast about focusing on wardrobe basics for the busy woman on the go; the difference is that this is just Wescoat Pound’s modus operandi. “One of the main callouts in our stores every day is people coming in looking for something special for an occasion—a lunch, a dinner, a bar mitzvah, or a wedding—so it’s important to have things that you can just always add.” That her version of occasion dressing can include both casual everyday events and special ones that require more dressing up, is proof of how in touch she is with women’s real needs. One can see customers—of any age, in any number of professional fields—walking into one of her seven retail stores, and imagining how each piece hanging on the racks can work with the items already in their closets. Her roomy trousers and tailored jackets have real evergreen appeal.