Fashion Week descends on New York City's Bryant Park this week and next. Amid tents filled with those who have already made it, a small band of entrepreneurial designers are claiming lucrative deals. Here are five creative small-business owners who, insiders say, will soon be global brands.
By Faran Krentcil
New York City
Chris Benz
If Marc Jacobs and J. Crew collaborated, the result would look a lot like Benz's clothes. That's appropriate, because the 25-year-old worked at both places before launching his own line last year.
Though he has produced only two full collections, the critical praise for the Seattle native has been loud and unanimous, from the New York Times to Women's Wear Daily. On the horizon is an eyewear collection and a jewelry partnership with Lulu Frost. Can a Target line be far behind?
Los Angeles
Katy Rodriguez
For 11 years Rodriguez ran the famed Resurrection boutiques in New York City and Los Angeles, and selling vintage clothing inspired her to create her own line replicating the look and quality of those classics. Her dresses often feature voluminous hemlines that make them look as if a wind machine is hidden underneath. Stylist Rachel Zoe and actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler count themselves acolytes. This month Rodriguez, 34, hosts her second Fashion Week runway collection, which is generating heavy buzz.
New York City
Rachel Comey
The show must always go on: Just two days after 9/11, Comey, 35, had to present her first collection to buyers. Despite the tragedy, she snagged orders from influential boutiques, partially because one of her designs had been worn by David Bowie on the David Letterman show, and shop owners were eager to see what else the new men's wear designer would create. A few seasons later the Vermont native decided her men's designs had "plateaued," and she is now focusing exclusively on women's clothing and shoes.
Los Angeles
Band of Outsiders
Scott Sternberg not only designs for his own men's wear label, Band of Outsiders, but also uses it to shelter sprouting sublabels, such as Boy, a collection of women's clothing debuting this month, and the BOO range of men's handmade wool suits.
"I have a collection that started very focused on two key items shirts and ties. Shirts were revenue-driving, and ties were a marketing item," explains Sternberg, 33, a former Holly wood agent at CAA. "The ties are what end up in magazines because you can pair them with an advertiser's suit. And those ties have afforded me the creativity to expand. I built them to afford me a lot of freedom."
Suits now provide 42% of Sternberg's revenue, and both Jason Schwartzman and Beck wear Band of Outsiders' hip and preppy classics.
Miami
Red Carter
Minutes before a Carter swimwear show in Miami, the models are sprayed with glitter and lined up on the catwalk for a final pep talk from the boss: "You are luscious. You are delicious. Those boys are gonna eat you all up. Go!"
Luxury shops such as Barneys and Intermix are also eating up designs by Daniel "Red" Carter, 35, who began his career as a water polo player and a ready-to-wear designer at Oscar de la Renta. The entrepreneur is successfully challenging huge swimwear brands such as Roxy and Speedo and recently pulled off the ultimate bikini coup: getting picked up by Victoria's Secret.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Busting out of the boutiques
เขียนโดย
Thailandblog
ที่
8:26 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment