Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A-LIST: Move Over McCarthy and McQueen

If you want to know the heir apparent of fashion’s design dynasty, consider these five wunderkinds who are destined to make the world a much more beautiful place.


Danielle Scutt

Preferring gladiators to glamazons, Scutt’s spring 2008 collection combines masculine and feminine overtones to produce light chiffon dresses, trench coats and organza suits. The collage of Popism, exotic head wraps, denim jump suits, and some Andy Warhol hints comprise her spring 2009 ready-to-wear collection. While still very new, Scutt is poised as Britain’s next big designer. Move over McQueen and McCarthy.

Thakoon

Thakoon Panichgul started out as a fashion writer but learned early on that his eye for fashion extended beyond the page. Panichgul studied at Parsons School of Design and produced his first day-wear collection in 2004. He soon received a Hollywood cult following by celebrities such as Rachel Bilson and Sarah Jessica Parker. He also received some political attention when he dressed Michelle Obama in a whimsically printed sheath dress. Oh snaps!




Doo.ri

While designer Doo-Ri Chung has been in the fashion game for a while, working for six years under Geoffrey Beene, she started her own design label in 2001. From her parent’s dry-cleaning store basement Chung, sculpted the luscious drape dresses and silk tops that represent the Doo.ri brand. In 2006 Chung received the Swarovski's Perry Ellis Award for emerging talent in womenswear from the CFDA. Doo.ri’s Spring 2009 collection infuses bright magenta in the light and airy slate gray charmeuse blouses.


Vena Cava

Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai started their collection in the spring of 2003, three weeks after they graduated from Parsons School of Design. These two Brooklynites found inspiration in everything from the rich colors of Mumbai to the playfulness of the swinging sixties. Vena Cava offers a fun approach to day wear with art deco inspired shift dresses and structured twill bottoms. The dynamic duo captures the street style of Brooklyn and infuse it with some old Hollywood class.

Joeri Van Yper

While the names Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeuleme may sound familiar, the latest prodigy of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, remains under the radar. For now at least. The New Yorker called Joeri Van Yper, who graduated in 2008, ‘the next generation of fashion.’ His winter collection features cerulean blue thick tweeds and bulk cable knit pants. Van Yper’s shoe designs feature gravity-defying heels that rival Dame Vivian Westwood. While Van Yper has yet to create a line, expect him to join the ranks of the Antwerp Six, soon to be seven.

PROFILE: Double Shot of Vintage Cool

Every girl wants to accessorize. Adding that hint of gold, silver, or a jewel-encrusted stone creates a focal point and helps create a signature style. But who has the time or energy to rummage through Carousel Mall or vintage stores around Syracuse looking for those one-of-a-kind standout pieces?

Enter, Kristen Lubsen and Kaitlyn Carpenter, two S.U. students who are redefining vintage jewelry on campus. Lubsen, a painting major, and Carpenter, a fashion-design major, combined forces to make costume jewelry. Their new line, Double K Vintage, features earrings and rings that are simple, vintage, and unique, and the pieces sell for a steal. Earrings come in two sizes small ($5) or large ($7), and all rings cost $10 and feature adjustable bases to fit any size finger.


The idea for the company began when Carpenter couldn’t find earrings to match a dress for her junior fashion collection. After a fruitless search, she decided to create her own. Lubsen loved the look of the earrings she found, taking clip-on earrings and transforming them into unique rings and pierced earrings. She thought many students would purchase similar ones. So the two began creating big and bold jewelry from second-hand pieces.


On the first day the line debuted, Double K Vintage sold more than 15 pairs of earrings and seven rings. Demand was high, and Lubsen and Carpenter scurried to make new pieces for their sale at the Schine Bookstore on December 10.

Even though Carpenter leaves in January to study abroad in London next semester, the two plan to keep the business going. Lubsen takes over operations until her business partner returns in Fall 2009. Send requests for pieces to doublekvintage@gmail.com