The Designer
Top 10 Designers and their best looks from the F/W 2019 Shows!
File Special designer bios and their inspirations for their collections inside!
Flats Included for special first edition copy of The Designer File!
The Designer File NO.1 March 2019
Dries Van Noten....... 10-15 Margiela....... 16-21 Off-White.......22-27 Oscar De La Renta.......28-33 The Row.......34-39 A Cold Wall.......40-45 Chloe.......46-51 Marni.......52-57 Reem Acra.......58-63 Sandro.......64-69
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Off-White
Dries Van Noten
Dries Van Noten was born in 1958 in Antwerp. When he was
eighteen he was enrolled in a fashion design course at Antwerp’s Royal Academy. Following his education at the Royal Academy he was a freelance designer and started his own menswear collection in 1986. After launching his collection in 1986, he received positive feedback from it and had orders placed by stores like Barney’s in New York City. Since then he has opened many boutiques and shown collections for spring/ summer and autumn/winter each year. Noten has also won various awards such as International Designer of the year in 2008, and distinction of Royal Designer for industry also in 2008. He has been featured in many museums as well including his own exhibit called “inspirations at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and partnered with Tomorrowland, opening shops for his collections. Noten describes his Fall 2019 collection as “a wry feeling” and “a strangeness”. He drew inspiration from flowers that he saw from his house and photographed them and put them into the collection. He added the black spots in the floral print to represent “imperfections” because he chose to take out the romantic side that flowers represent. Prior to showing the flower portion of clothing, Noten included many gray on gray looks in his collection. Gray jackets and trousers were just some of the things he featured. Throughout the collection, the clothing was not just work clothing or evening wear but a little bit of everything. I think that because all types of clothing is in included, it makes the collection well rounded and can appeal to the consumer well. I thought that it was interesting that pastels were being shown for winter too. It is something that is unexpected but I feel that works well for this collection. I especially liked the color fur that was shown in the collection. It was another aspect to the collection that I thought made it really enjoyable. 12
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John Galliano MARGIELA
Martin Margiela was born on April 9 ,1957
and started showing his work in the late 80s. He worked as a design assistant to Jean Paul Gautier in 1984 and later founded his label in 1988 where he launched his first menswear collection which is known as line 10. Becoming a public company in 2002, the majority share was taken by Renzo Russo (Diesel group owner). Becoming very successful, Margiela was invited to show their first haute couture collection in May 2006. Just a couple years later in October 2009, Margiela stepped down as creative director. With the help of Renzo Russo, John Galliano took over as creative director for Margiela in 2014. For the fall 2019 collection, Galliano chose to do something completely different then his summer haute couture show. This show included everything tailored from coats to trouser suits. Galliano calls this collection “co-ed� and tailored to the younger generation. 18
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Virgil Abloh OFF-WHITE
Virgil Abloh, the Off White creative director, was born on
September 30th outside of Chicago. In 2002 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Madison where he earned his degree in civil engineering. Later on in 2006 he continued his education earning his masters degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. While attending IIT is where he found an interest in fashion. In 2009 Virgil Abloh and Kanye West became interns at Fendi. This internship lead him to become the creative director at Donda (Wests creative agency) in 2010. In 2012, Abloh started his own brand call Pyrex Vision. He would take old Ralph Lauren shots and printed them with the word pyrex and the number 23. He was able to sell these shirts for 550 dollars each. From pyrex emerged Off-White, Abloh’s current label. Within Off-White, Abloh combines streetwear with luxury wear as well as art, music, and travel. He defines his brand as “the gray area between black and white as the color Off-White” Abloh entitled his fall 2019 show “Public Television”. He was trying to make the point that while we watched TV growing up, the ads on our screen formed our environment and our view of the world. The looks in the collection included boxy and deconstructed blazers with oversized denim. There was also a ton of graphic streetwear as well as quilted jackets. Some of the details on the clothing included embroidered tagging, TV bar motifs, and spray painted knees on pants. 24
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Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia OSCAR DE LA RENTA
Oscar De La Renta was a dominican fashion design-
er born on july 22, 1932 and died on October 20,2014. He worked for brands such as Balmain and Lanvin. He then started his ready to wear label in 1965.He had the opportunity to dress people such as Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush. Since his passing, the current creative directors of his label are Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. Prior to being named co-creative directors, they worked with De la Renta for 17 years so their knowledge of the brands identity is acknowledged. While sticking to De la Renta’s initial vision for the brand, they put their own spin on it. Kim and Garcia chose the Mosque Cathedra of Cordoba as a reference point for their collection. There was a lot of history behind it and it was said that this place was visited often by De la Renta. They also are inspired by De la Renta by opening the show with suiting. Other things included in this collection were a series of prints that was targeted towards a younger generation. More inspirations that were shown within this collection were texture, pattern, and antique carpets. Kim and Garcia aimed to stay away from the famous ball gowns that De la Renta is now for and instead made the proportions smaller. 30
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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen THE ROW
The Row was created in 2006 by Ashely Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen. The label was name after Londons Savile row which is a fashion house that holds fabrics, as well as amazing details and fits. The brand is solely based off of this fashion house and The Row takes their values and put it into their own collections. The Row mainly focuses on “simplistic shapes that speak to discretion and are based on uncompromising quality”. In addition to clothing, the brand also has eyewear, handbags, and footwear. In the fall 2019 collection, there was “waist-focused” silhouette with “blown-up volumes”. There was almost no detailing throughout the collection and there were many cowl-neck blouses and wide tailored pants shown. When it came to accessories, the clothing was paired with a riding boot or “little stocking slipper”. 36
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Samuel Ross A-COLD-WALL
The face behind the London label A Cold Wall is Sam-
uel Ross. He is a LVMH prize finalist and designer for the brand. He is known to take “utilitarian fabrics and silhouettes” and turn them into ready wear, street style based clothing. Ross studied graphic design at DeMontford College in Leicester. Following his education, he landed a job at a design agency working on product, website, and home design. Soon after he was asked by Virgil Abloh to join his team as an intern and then an assistant/ consultant. Since starting his own brand in 2015, ross has been keeping his collection interesting using materials such as rubber, latex, and nylon while creating basic garments like t-shirts and finding ways to make them interesting. Ross describes some of the themes in his show as “This is about how to paint a holistic picture of what’s going on in society that our generation has to deal with. Freedom of movement, nationalistic fears; these are nuances I’m touching on in this show.”But the main theme is Ross’s fall 2019 collection was “the overcoming of conditions that hold people back”. Some of the details that ross included were utility pockets, zippers, and puffers while incorporating them with tailored suits and trench coats. 42
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Natacha Ramsay-Levi CHLOE
Natasha Ramsay Levi is the creative director for Chloe. She
studied a the Paris 8 University as well as Studio Bercot. Following her education she was an intern for Balenciaga in 2002 and later on worked her way up as design director. She worked at Balenciaga for over a decade and after leaving, joined Louis Vuitton as a design director, the same position she held at Balenciaga. In 2017, it was announced that she would take the place of Clare Waight Keller at Chloe. Ramsay- Levi’s first collection at chloe was for Spring/Summer 2018. It was said in WWD that Ramsay-Levi felt inspired by “the pioneering female French sailor Florence Arthaud braving the wild”. This was the inspiration behind most of her knits and in the accessories that were paired with the outfits.It was also said that Ramsay-Levi brought “ a soft french touch to a traditionally rugged highlands fabric”. I think that this was seen in the blouses and dresses shown throughout the collection. The dresses were something in this collection that I liked the most. They were shown in oversized shapes/ lengths as well as mini dresses.The details in the dresses is what really draws you in with the touches of lace in some and other small details included. Another thing about this collection that I enjoyed were the gentle looking fabrics that were chosen. All of the fabrics made the clothing look very light/ airy particularly in the dresses, blouses, and jumpsuits.The collection overall had a very western chic theme that was highly elevated making look sophisticated and elegant. 48
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Francesco Risso MARNI
The newest creative director leading Marni is Francesco
Risso, taking place of Consuelo Castaglioni after he stepped down in 2016. Russo was born in Sardinia, Italy and learned his skills from his grandmother who was a well known tailor. Later on in his life, he studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and completed his masters at Central Saint Martins in London. Risso worked under people such as Anna Molinari and Alessandro Dell’Acqua. In 2008 he joined Prada to work on womenswear and special projects and then in October of 2016 he became creative director of Marni. His first collection for Marni was Fall/Winter 2017 and was a success. Throughout Risso’s Fall 2019 collection, he had a very “neurotic, erotic” vision. The collection overall was very edgy and hard hitting. It was said by Vogue that his show was “pleasure without guilt— or as Risso put it: “hereticism but on a different level.” Throughout the collection there were many chains paired with interesting prints. Also all of the silhouettes of the clothing and even shoes were oversized. The main color palette for this collection were black, white, and red with some hints of pink and orange. I feel that the pink and orange threw off the collection because of how it was randomly incorporated. I think that if Risso stuck with the three main colors than the collection overall would be more successful. I did like the incorporation of chains and embellishments and the way that the accessories (such as the scarves) were styled. 54
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REEM ACRA
Reem Acra was born in Beirut, Lebanon where her parents worked
at the American University of Beirut where Acra ended up getting her business degree in 1982. Four years later in 1986, she graduated magna cum laude from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She also won the fashion design departments award for her year. Continuing her education even further, she studied at the Ecole Superieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode design school in Paris. Then in 1997 she started her own bridal line and had her first fashion show in 1999. In 2003 her brand expanded to evening gowns and then in 2008 it expanded into ready-to-wear. Her gowns have been seen in many award shows on celebrities such as Beyonce, Madonna, and Reese Witherspoon. This collection was beyond words beautiful. It had the basis of the Reem Acra aesthetic but I feel that it was more modern in the sense of its silhouettes and style dress. There were many different style dresses that were featured in this collection from two pieces with a crop top and a straight silhouette that is see through with an almost body suit look underneath. Something that especially stood out in this collection was the intricate beading and brocade used. Acra always pays attention to the small details in her dresses which makes them so magnificent and makes them stand out. Some of the beading/brocade is featured just on the top of the dresses where as in other dresses, the beading is worked throughout. There were also a variety of fabrics that were used in this collection such as velvet and tulle. Length in dresses was not a huge factor in this collection. Most of the dresses were long and down to the floor with the exception of a couple that were a couple inches above the ankle. Overall, the collection was very successful and I’m excited to see what the dresses look like off the runway. 60
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Ilan Chetrite SANDRO
Ilan Chetrite is the son of the founders of the brand
Sandro and also the creative director of Sandro man. The brand created by his parents started in 1984. The brand first started only in womenswear and then expanded. In 2008 Illan launched the project Homme (Sandro’s mens collection) previously having no fashion experience.Chetrite would describe the overall style of the mens brand as one that has “Well-cut basics that work for sure mixed with audacious pieces�. The Sandro Mens Fall 2019 collection was overall simple and featured many pieces that were versatile. Houndstooth made its way into this collected featured in jackets as well as pants. Those pieces were paired with a simple shirt or sometimes show worn together but in different color houndstooth. A yellow mustard color also stood out in this collection adding a pop of color in a collection that is filled with black, white, and denim. Although many prints were not used in this collection, there were stripes in the collection that were featured in button up shirts. The other print that was used was flannel. It was shown in a basic flannel button up as well as collared t-shirt. 66
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