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Hot new designers just our age!

What’s hot and what’s not. What’s in and what’s out. Just call it the style obsession of the modern age. Fortunately for the fashion fixated in the new millennium, the runway fabulous is at ever-easier reach. And thanks to online emporiums and boutiques stocked with a growing roster of cult, independent brands, you no longer have to wait for trends to filter down the fashion food chain to score an individual, high-style look.

With debut collections that have had fashion editors scribbling and buyers swarming, meet three women from the freshman class of independent designers. They’re girls just like us, cutting a new pattern for themselves in the fashion world and stitching their own way to sartorial success.

The Renaissance Romantic

Laurel Wells
Candidate for coolest kid in class, Wells is probably best described as a present-day renaissance woman. She paints, she tours with a couple of bands and with her eponymous collection, transforms soft, draped jersey into minimalist confections with a playful baroque spirit. Think avant-garde Maid Marion meets electro-pop chick.

Launching her label in 2003, the Atlanta native had long been dressmaking to finance her way through school. But then, “just heard the call to get serious about pursuing fashion as a career.” On the rise in New York with what’s been dubbed a retro-futuristic look, she’s tipped for the top and headed to a boutique near you.

Inspiration:
“I dress the band Au Revoir Simone, a group of cool girls with keyboards. They’re my muses! Otherwise, I’m really just inspired by the power fashion has to transform and remind us of our beauty and strength.”

Style Highlight:
“Being successful enough to give up my full-time job and still have the freedom to pursue music.”

Fashion Biz Bite:
“The fashion industry’s full of people who’ll take advantage of you, so I only work with who I can trust.”

Next Season’s Spotlight:
“Lots of layering and dresses paired with vests. I was recently at the Paris Moroccan Kaftan show and was totally inspired for my next collection.”

Get It !
www.Laurelwells.com, Sodafine, Brooklyn; Veruca, Atlanta.

Model: Erika, of the band “Au Revoir Simone”

 

The Perfectionist

Dace
“I always had an eye for quality,” says Vancouver based Dace Moore, the visionary behind the hot label with a hallmark for throwback classic looks and durability.

After years of riding a steep learning curve selling designs at indie boutiques, studying fashion at Blanche Macdonald and working at British Columbia’s United Ski and Skate, she’s now head of her own company. Her breakthrough 2002 collection garnered instant interest with its blend of high-caliber detailing and flirty styling. And now, teamed with business partner Leesha Sabine, orders are flowing in from across North America including Canada’s very own style Mecca, Holt Renfrew. The fashion prognosis? Dace has aced and is on the brink of even bigger hits.

Inspiration:
“Travel, I love to see what’s going on in other cities like New York or LA. This July I’m headed to Barcelona.”

Style Highlight:
“This year we moved to a bigger studio and opened our web store. Plus with the higher sales volumes, we get to play with custom fabrics. That’s really opened doors for us.”

Fashion Biz Bite:
“It’s important to spend time working at a big company, I couldn’t have known what I do now about the apparel industry if I had gone solo immediately.”

Next Season’s Spotlight:
I’m designing my LA sales rep’s wedding dress, so I’ve really been drawn to retro dress patterns for inspiration. I think you’ll see it reflected in the Spring 2008 line. As for Fall 2007, it’s all about neutrals, creams and grays.”

Get It!
www.leelush.com, www.shopdace.com

Dace Moore photo by Steven Errico

 

The High School Hipster

Twospace

Take one part boho babe, add another part working woman and you’ll end up with the type of “creative, open-minded” girl that Twospace founder, Christine Haynes, designs for. Launched with husband Kent Bell after a successful stint at Chicago’s Renegade Craft Fair, Twospace started when the couple packed up and headed west to LA and “the home of sportswear,” as Haynes calls it.

Today, as the face behind a growing modern casual line “that’s perfectly LA, and perfect to dress up or dress down,” Christine’s brand of fair-weather artsy chic is a success story in the making.

Inspiration:
“My collection of 1920′s to 1980′s high school yearbooks. They’re an amazing snapshot of what people really used to wear and not just stylized versions of fashion we see in old films.”

Style Highlight:
“Getting our office in the Garment District. Also doing the taxes this year and seeing that all my earnings came from our business, that’s an amazing feeling.”

Fashion Biz Bite:
“Always take baby steps and build on your strengths. Too many independent designers try to bite off too much too soon.”

Next Season’s Spotlight:
“The fall range borrows a lot from a 1970′s Ali MacGraw vibe with jersey cowl necks and babydoll dresses! But as we speak I’m looking at prints and cottons for 2008, it’s going to be a lot more feminine.”

Get It!
Matrushka, LA; Paperbird Boutique, Milwaukee; Crimson, London; Bamboo Sky, Honolulu; www.twospacestudio.com

Pictured from the twospace collection:

The Salon Dress from the current Spring/Summer 2007
collection. Hot pink Rayon Jersey mini dress.

The Chelsea Dress from the current Spring/Summer 2007
collection. Pink and white vintage inspired stretch cotton short
sleeve baby doll dress.

The Chalet Top from the Fall/Winter 2007/2008
collection. Lipstick red Rayon Jersey cowl neck top.

 

The Chelsea Dress from the Fall/Winter 2007/2008
collection. Deep blue and white pinstripe stretch cotton long sleeve
baby doll dress.