Though Cynthia Kan had been aspiring to be a designer since the age of 14 when she paged through Vogue for the first time, this budding designer quickly realized her dream after one large design project in 2007: creating her wedding gown and dresses for her bridal party. After going back to school at FIT in 2008, she quickly launched her namesake label in 2009 filled with classic silhouettes with some modern twists.
It seems that her collections are getting more elaborate by the season. However, we love her use of simplicity where nothing she creates is too trendy to go out of style the following season. Her dresses though very simple in cut, still maintain a certain femininity with cinched waists, a small splash of embellishments, and a ruffle here and there. Though she could still be considered a rookie in the design world, she is one of our favorite designers on the rise at the moment!
As the descendent of Grace Kelly’s personal stylist, it’s no wonder that Katie Ermilio has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather into the world of fashion. Ermilio’s personal design history goes back all the way to when she was 12, and after years of learning textiles and tailoring in her father’s clothing shop, Katie acquired a certain knack for creating tailored pieces with sharp lines while still maintaining a soft, feminine drape.
We love her ability to take a classic cut and create a modern edge to it, keeping the designs simple but definitely on trend point. Her pieces range from casual daywear, to work attire, to cocktail and eveningwear. In her latest Spring ’12 collection, she has perfectly combined conservative, sexy, and purely classic pieces that somehow still create a smooth flow from garment to garment. She has recently started to catch the eye of the press from Elle, to Teen Vogue, to Lucky, and we can only see her getting more buzz as the seasons continue!
Kelsey Carleen Parkhouse
And last, but definitely not least is the winner of this year’s Liz Claiborne Award at Pratt’s annual student fashion show, Kelsey Carleen Parkhouse. With the award, Parkhouse received a $25,000 cash prize as a way of giving her a little nudge in developing a collection after graduation. The prize is intended for a student who stands out among the rest and because 17 students showed their collections that day, it’s obvious that we aren’t the only one’s who have good faith that this is a star in the making.
Her collection stuck out like a beautiful sore thumb with quilted skirts, coats, abstract patterns --all with quite a mod-meets-vintage feel to it. Her raw talent shows through her bold use of color combinations and her ability to successfully take a chance with patterns that turned out very modern, but could have potentially taken a wrong turn into grandma’s living room linens. Though we don’t have any news of a collection in the making, we are confident that this is not the last we will see of Kelsey Carleen Parkhouse in the fashion industry.
Get the RSS Feed
