Annalisa Dunn and Dorothee Hagemann, the London knitwear designers behind the Cooperative Designs label, have been winning raves in the UK for their bright, graphic creations that tread the line between sexy and kooky. For spring the duo are taking their talents across the Atlantic with a capsule collection for Henri Bendel as part of the store’s guest designer initiative.
“They won our hearts immediately,” Ann Watson, vice president and fashion director at Henri Bendel, said of the pair, who graduated from London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2007. “Their ideas are fresh and resonated with the store’s sensibility.”
The collection, called Henri Bendel New York Limited Edition Spring 2009 by Cooperative Designs, will feature a mix of skinny and oversize shapes, primary colors and intarsia weaves.
Dunn, who is English, and the German-born Hagemann still hand-knit some of their pieces and source many of their ideas from the art world. In fact, the two decided to form their partnership during a visit to the Tate Modern in 2007. “And that’s where we’re planning to do our 10-year retrospective,” Dunn said with a smile.
