To kick off Spring 2009 New York Fashion Week, we interviewed some of the hot new designers participating in the Expose NY, a new showcase held at a private Midtown which featured a select group of indie fashion talent, accessories lines, and jewelry designers. Guests included editors and stylists from WWD, W, California Apparel News, Italian Vogue, Lucky, Teen Vogue, Purple, Real Simple, Forbes, JC Report, Zink!, CosmoGirl, Seventeen, Allure, VH1 and Instyle - as well as buyers from Jeffrey, Saks, Lord & Taylor, and Bloomingdales - all checking out designers from around the world who don’t normally have a voice during the bi-annual NY fashion festivities.
"We had to curate the show so that the diversity of contacts we have relationships with would all have something to come see and get excited about," explains former fashion product placement and PR specialist Matt Meyerson, who organized and curated the event using a rigorous selection process; for the dozen or so designers included, at least 50 were turned away.
(Thankfully Basil Hayden's signature cocktails weren't turned away, nor were yummy mini cupcakes from Babycakes NYC, music mixes by Moodswing 360 DJs, Ace Hard Cider, Robert Hall Wine, gorge floral arrangements from Stem NYC, purified water in chic stainless steel bottles from Watergeeks Laboratories, and lookbooks stashed in b. happybags houndstooth totes custom-printed by Print House Inc.)
"We are talking about the busiest, and most wanted, people in fashion. If Expose brands weren’t hot and I wasted a bunch of people’s time the day before Fashion Week started, I would be dead in the water and wouldn’t be coming back to do it again for the Fall ’09 Collections in February."
The Expose NY designer roster included:
hot, handcrafted heels by Jerome Chouinard Rousseau (LA)- friend of Marc Jacobs & much-buzzed-about designer Levi Okunov
- priceless yet funky jewelry and couture by Florida's House of Bastion (she designed the amazing floral bling ring that Samantha bid on in Sex and the City: The Movie)
- the goth couture musings of Shadows & Dust (Australia)
- sexy swimwear from Le Doux (Brazil)
- classic and clean lines by Ana Pires (Italy)
- the debut of Yansi Fugel’s TravelJersey Collection (NY)
- fab fash sunglasses from Oliver Goldsmith (UK)
- vintage inspired elegance by Australia's award-winning Yeojin Bae (Australia)
- the debut of GoodLife, a hot new art inspired t-shirt line
- edgy, colorful Priestess NYC
The Belgium-based Designers Against AIDS acted as charitable beneficiary at Expose, showcasing their work raising awareness about AIDS prevention through partnerships with retailers like H&M, the UN, and celebs including Rihanna, Timbaland and My Chemical Romance.
- Lesley Scott
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