FASHION

5 Designers On The Rise

Find out more about these new labels to watch.


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1

Barbara Casasola

The 29-year-old Brazilian designer’s romantic-meets-minimalist pleated organza dresses and separates evoke a young, hip Madame Grès— and that’s no accident. Casasola became obsessed with the history of French fashion while living in Paris, where she worked for Lanvin and See by Chloé. Last year she launched her own label, which was immediately picked up by Daslu, the legendary São Paulo fashion emporium. And even though Casasola’s homeland has a reputation for bare-it-all style, her pieces are surprisingly modest: High-necked, calf-skimming numbers offer mere glimpses of skin through strategically placed sheer panels. Her approach, she says, “is more hide-and-seek than sexy.”

2

delPozo

Jesús del Pozo was an Iberian fashion force in the ’70s and ’80s, credited with modernizing Spain’s couture tradition in the post-Franco era. In the 21st century, the designer began to fall into the shadows, and after his death in 2011, his house was acquired by Perfumes y Diseño. Now, thanks to new creative director Josep Font, who also designs a collection under his name, Delpozo is back in the spotlight. For fall, Font was inspired by contemporary architecture (which he studied at university) and Victorian femininity: Think sculptural jackets, wasp-waisted skirts, and voluminous dresses in contrasting colors (nude and flame; camel, black, and emerald)—clothes, he says, for “women who are governed by intelligence and elegance.”

3

Etienne Deroeux

Many young designers have wished for a fairy godmother—someone to wave a magic wand (or exert some industry influence) to propel their career into the stratosphere. Etienne Deroeux, however, is quite content with his actual godmother, Martine Carette, a patternmaker and production supervisor who is now his business partner. “Watching her work is one of the reasons I became interested in fashion,” he says. Deroeux, 24, grew up in the French town of Lille and attended Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the La Cambre School of Visual Arts in Brussels before heading to New York to assist Matthew Ames. But don’t come to him looking for fairy-tale gowns. For fall, Deroeux presented graphic day wear in printed canvas and melton and double- knit wool.

4

Marcobologna

Marco Giugliano and Nicolò Bologna started Marcobologna in 2011 with a few bright pieces of rhinestone jewelry—which makes total sense, given the Italian designers’ proclivity for all things fun and sparkly. They branched out with jewelry-printed T-shirts soon after, and within a year they were producing a full ready-to-wear line. Their fall collection, which was inspired by Elsa Schiaparelli, is driven by the “contrast of romance and fetish.” Glittery hearts show up on gray sweaters and pouf skirts, a pink knit top is set off by a shaggy rose-colored goat-fur chubby, and the brand’s signature rhinestones appear as a floral sprig on the front of a cropped black bomber jacket. “It’s for an upbeat girl,” Bologna says. “She wants to have fun, and she’s not shy about color.”

5

Wanda Nylon

The transparent plastic trench is a mod fashion classic, though the unventilated PVC original left users feeling anything but cool. Making this fashion icon wearable was the starting point for Johanna Senyk and Peter Hornstein, the designers behind the rain-wear line Wanda Nylon. “It had to be comfortable and as ecological as possible, so we spent two years on research and development,” Hornstein says. Design-wise, they found inspiration in Helmut Newton photos and Joanna Cassidy’s replicant wardrobe from the 1982 film Blade Runner. The collection, which debuted in spring 2012, is constructed for maximum breathability and currently includes a clear cape and an aviator jacket in leopard. Bring on the downpour!