NYFW Fall 2010 Ones to Watch

Susan Woo

susan woo spring 2010 collection
photo: treehugger.com

After presenting her first collection in Fall 2009, its a little surprising that Susan Woo's  environmentally-conscious and sophisticated line has flown so low under the radar. Despite having been been featured by Elle and Women's Wear Daily, Woo has not received as much attention as other emerging designers. Whether or not you are interested in eco fashion, any woman can appreciate the beautiful modern pieces that Ms. Woo can craft from sustainable fabrics like organic cotton and vegan silk.

photo: Talalya Centeno (WWD)

Susan Woo will be showing at Sat, Feb 13 at 2PM at the Bryant Park Hotel, 40 West 40th st

Bibhu Mohapatra

 bibhu mohapatra  fall 2009 collection

After designing at both Halston and J Mendel, it's no surprise that Bibhu Mohapatra's designs are rich with lush fabrics, but Mohapatra's viewpoint is definitely his own. Both his construction and draping make for edgy, but luxurious pieces- think Uptown girl with a downtown edge. Mohapatra's talent makes him poised to become a younger generation's Bill Blass.

Bibhu Mohapatra will be showing Mon, Feb 15 at 4PM at the Marianne Boesky Gallery, 509 West 24th st (nr 10th Ave)

Jen Kao

There Can Be Only One

Still in shock at the news that one of the most gifted and inspiring fashion designers is no longer with us. A memorial has appeared outside the McQueen store in New York, which will remain closed until Saturday.

I would love to write a long lovely post expressing how wonderful and innovative and fantastic and entertaining and artful I found Alexander McQueen to be, but I think his work speaks for itself:

Gen Art Designers Make Recycled Plastic Pretty

The organization Plastics Make It Possible has come up with an interesting challenge for this year's group of GenArt designers. The four fledgling design labels, Gar-De, Nomia, WesFeld and Sophmore had to create a collection using fabrics derived from recycled plastics. This is a great way to encourage young designers to start thinking about incorporating sustainability into their designs, and also reinforces the fact that beautiful clothing can be made from environmentally-friendly materials.

photo: Plastics Make It Possible

The designers will present their collections tonight at Drive In Studios to kick off New York Fashion Week, but there will also be a livestream of the four hour presentation and after-party available online starting at 7PM EST.

Here's a sneak peek at the winning collection from the label WesFeld. Designers Daniel Feld and Wesley Nault, explain the inspiration for some of their pieces and how they utilized recycled plastic to create lovely sculptural dresses.

Oscar de la Renta on Sustainable Fashion

“Sustainable fashion implies a commitment to the traditional techniques, and not just the art, of making clothes. I work today in the same way that I first learnt in the ateliers of Balenciaga and Lanvin 50 years ago. We need to ensure that the next generation of seamstresses and tailors have the skills necessary to develop clothes that are not only beautiful but extremely well made.”

Shoe Art by Timrobot

All shoes and photographs by Tim Wolff

Shoe Art from Etsy

Vintage shoes, artwork by Ndeur 

Two years ago, Style Gourmand featured the maginificent designs of young graphic artist Ndeur, which included graffiti-type designs done on vintage shoes. When Ndeur decided to move on and focus on other art projects, I thought my source for one-of-a-kind piece of shoe art was was, but luckily I have found "shoe artists" to fill the void. 

Here are some of the best from Etsy sellers:

Obsessions Hand-painted shoes by cocopunkz

Kamikaze Hand-painted shoes by cocopunkz

Bubble gum girl Hand-painted heels by Studio Jellyfish

Sole Trippin by taylorsays 

You can also try making your own footwear masterpiece: checkout this how-to video from Bobsmade.