Edited by Rebecca Alexander
The Gen Art 14th Annual Fresh Faces Fashion Show will be held on Thursday, September 4th, at the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center. This is largest and most recognized program showcasing emerging designers in the United States. In addition to New York, the program will also feature innovative talent in Chicago (10/1) and Los Angeles (10/10). Fresh Faces has launched the careers of fashion’s most familiar, including Zac Posen, Rebecca Taylor, Phillip Lim (Development), Chaiken, Cloak, Eugenia Kim, Hollywould, Milly, Twinkle Sari Gueron, Duckie Brown, Dagmar, and many more. This year’s Fresh Faces New York program will feature Spring 2009 collections from 12 designers – four accessories in installations and 8 edited, but representative collections, from six womenswear and two menswear designers will make their way down a 70 foot runway.
Partnering with Yoox.com will bring the runway immediately to the world by offering select looks from a designer featured in Fresh Faces in Fashion. This year, JF & Son was chosen by a panel consisting of Gen Art, YOOX and former New York Times Style Editor, Holly Brubach The designer will showcase iconic pieces from their Spring ’09 runway collection, to be sold via yoox.com one day after the runway show.
Here are the nominees:
WOMENSWEAR
JF & SON was founded in 2007 by the duo of Jesse Finkelstein, a Brown University graduate and homeland security and terrorist financing expert and Kathryn.King, a costume designer, and graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara and Parsons School of design – as an attempt to marry the principles of modernist design with traditional fabric techniques. Each collection draws its inspiration from the geometry of the body and uses the shape, color, and materiality of textiles to alter that geometry. By integrating different fabric manipulations, like embroidery, beading, and printing into the design process, JF & SON hopes to advance these studies of the body’s form. JF & SON does all of their production in-house at their studios in New York and Delhi, India. Each piece is made in an equitable environment, allowing every employee the right to experiment with design.
Ideeen is a collection designed by native Japanese duo Junko Hirata and Atsuko Yanase. The two met at Catherine Malandrino where Yanase spent four years, while Hirata later left to work for Yigal Azrouel and Helmut Lang. In 2007, the two reunited to collaborate on their own collection, an edgy and intellectual aesthetic that is translated into an imaginative, organic and asymmetrical collection. The mix of New York sophistication and Japanese sensibility creates a wholly wearable yet distinct collection.
SARIAH
Custom prints, bold fabric selection and impeccable fit and drape make up designer Sariah Carson’s singular design and aesthetic sensibilities. Each one of a kind print is hand painted on high quality silks and each garment is produced locally in New York. Sariah graduated from the Parsons School of Design where her senior thesis collection as one half of the design team Carson Potter was bought and sold by Barney’s New York. Carson’s solo line debuted in Fall 2008 and will be available exclusively at Barney’s New York Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills locations.
LIALIA
Two sisters with individual personalities combined the harmonizing elements in their names, ideas and shared a vision to create Lialia – a modern interpretation of classic elegance. Fused with hints of the designers’ Spanish heritage, Lialia translates their experiences at Parson’s School of Design, and work at houses such as Phi, Reyes, and Oscar de la Renta, into their meticulously constructed garments and distinct design sensibilities.
Richard Ruiz
Debuting in Fall 2006, with a collection entitled “An Evening With Miss Vreeland,” Designer, Richard Ruiz currently works in New York City. A San Francisco native, he relocated to NYC in 1993 to study at the Parsons School of Design, studying also at the Paris campus. There he worked with Ted Lapidus and the Paris based Japanese couturier Koji Tatsuno. Since 2001, Ruiz has traveled internationally as both tailor and personal designer to a roster of celebrity clients including: Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Heidi Klum, Keira Knightley, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, and Kimora Lee Simmons. These collective experiences, along with a love of history and the daily inspirations found in eclectic modern living, are reflected in the Richard Ruiz women’s wear label. The collection offers an assortment of classically tailored separates in luxurious fabrics and playfully sexy and elegant dresses with signature exclusive prints.
CRHEE was created from Christine Rhee’s desire to create a name that was at once her own and something entirely new. Born and raised in a small town in Ohio, Rhee received her BA in architecture from Princeton University and later worked for architect, Lynn Breslin and fashion designer, Mary Ping before venturing out on her own. Rhee utilizes her architecture education and love of fashion to explore her ever-present fascination with the relationship one has with one’s own appearance. CRHEE uses clothing as language to project the qualities of the wearer as strong, intelligent, and feminine. The aim is to create wearable clothes that are both modern and timeless while classic and unconventional.
MENSWEAR
Hyden Yoo made his New York debut in 2005. He set out to extend the utilization of the workplace wardrobe by updating the clothing men wear to work. He formulated a strategy to create slim fitting dress shirts with shorter body lengths. This concept added value to a man’s wardrobe by allowing him to wear them to work, tucked in or to a social setting, un-tucked. The line has now evolved into a full collection with items ranging from suits to sweaters to coats and of course, shirts. He utilizes modern fits and adds subtle details to inject edginess in his, otherwise, classic pieces. It’s a perfect mix of Wall Street business and Brooklyn hipster, and connects with everybody who’s in between.
Philip Sparks developed his sharp tailoring skills and from an interest in period-inspired silhouettes, fabrics and techniques in the costume departments of the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company and the Stratford Festival of Canada. Sparks draws inspiration from vintage photographs, unique materials and classic techniques to create collections that respect fashion’s traditions but continue to push menswear forward. Philip Sparks can be found at Holt Renfrew as well as specialty boutiques in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
ACCESSORIES
In 2001, Antoinette Lee, came to New York where she worked for various design houses before starting her own label in 2005. “My vision when designing is to have each bag be the main focus of an outfit; it should catch everyone’s eyes when you’re out on the town or out and about in the daytime.” Her inspiration for her designs range from her everyday experiences in New York City, to her two dogs, Dolce & Vita. Her collections offer a range of edgy to sophisticated styles that women from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side are drawn to. Each handbag is crafted in New York City with careful detail and workmanship.
DEKA RAY
Eugenie Huang spent her childhood in the woods of North Carolina, playing with insects, doing math drills, and practicing the violin. Between studying architecture at M.I.T. and Columbia, she spent a year learning how to rebuild motorcycle parts and motors. Her observations and experiences of biology, vectors, mechanisms, music, and her training as an architect have served to influence the objects, concepts and style that she refines into her jewelry for Deka Ray. Designing without literal representation of iconic ornamental forms, Ms. Huang creates objects that are familiar but not precisely realistic. Her work is otherworldly and technological in thought-process, yet imbued with the ambiance of natural environment as a tactile, material influence. While she designs she also shares the NYC-based architectural practice Formactiv with colleague Ron Eng.
Heutchy
Designer, Wells Stellberger made his 2008 Heutchy debut at the Shipley and Halmos show. Heutchy’s approach is refreshing in its simplicity. Just create a shoe that you know people will like. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Stellberger also worked at Marc by Marc Jacobs.. The notice of a void in the market for a moderately priced, interestingly designed and well made men’s shoe was the impetus to create his own line. “I wanted to construct something that’s forward in design and concept but lacking pretense; something adaptable that mixes classic and contemporary. The key was making it attainable. Men’s shoes tend to be expertly crafted and expensive or poorly made and cheap. There wasn’t an in-between and we knew there could be,” explains Stellberger. Using Italian leather as well as Japanese Canvas, the collection offers a high quality product for an affordable price, focusing on clean, simple shapes and interesting materials to create a staple shoe for every man’s wardrobe.”
TNC Studio
The TNC Studio collection is designed by Parisian designer Tanya Cicanovic and features leather accessories (bags, gloves, belts, hats), as well as « bijoux de couture » jewelry combining Swarovski and vintage hand set crystal. The designer is endlessly inspired is by mythological origin. Her trade mark is the Griffin, the guardian of treasures and the fabulous creature admired for its mysterious dual nature, both divine and earthly. TNC Studio’s evening and resort accessories cater to tastemakers defined as extravagant travelers appreciating sophisticated and sensual style. The collection is currently sold at boutiques in Paris and the US including Intermix in NY.
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