Fashion Week brings out the usual big players, but it is often the unknown or first-time designers who wow the crowd. These designers have fresh vision, unlimited and untapped creativity, and are ready to make their mark on the world.
Julia Seeman
Image courtesy of Christian Gertenbach
When an entire look from your graduate collection is worn by Rihanna just one day after your show, expect to be featured on the up-and-coming designer list. Based in Zurich, Julia Seeman mixes bright colors and psychedelic prints with surprisingly sculptural silhouettes for an entirely new and unexpected look that is actually completely wearable.
Craig Green
Image courtesy of Volha Flaxeco
Two-time menswear designer of the year, Craig Green still has the appeal of an undiscovered talent. The London-born and based designer is an innovate menswear designer known for joining concepts of uniformity, utility, and drama to create classic and simple garments. His ability to blend wearable pieces with unexpected touches of theater make his line one of the most looked forward to each fashion week.
Moon Choi
Image courtesy of Brunel Johnson
Choi’s designs fall right in to line with the avant-garde streetwear that is everywhere in 2018. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, her work is playful, structural, and unconventional. She describes her designs as “blur[ring] the boundary between feminine and masculine, as it gently shifts the notions of gender and identity. It’s the expressive result of how I believe clothing can influence one’s identity and behavior.”
Adebayo Oke-Lawal
Image courtesy of Kris Atomic
The creative mind and director behind Orange Culture, Oke-Lawal has found his voice in menswear. The Nigerian designer finds inspiration through the lack of representation he found in men’s fashion in Nigeria. “I found there was a gap I needed to fill in the menswear industry and in Nigeria we needed to have a voice and be promoted globally,” Oke-Lawal said. “My collections are very introspective and I am Nigerian, so therefore everything I draw out of me is inspired by the country. Shapes and prints are all inspired by emotions and conversations I’ve experienced growing up here.”
Kim Tiziana Rottmüller
Image courtesy of Kris Atomic
Appearing in New York Fashion Week in the Fall has got to be the highlight of this 24-year-old designer’s portfolio so far, but will not be the biggest thing she’s known for. The German-raised, Florence-trained Rottmüller is known for theatrical designs. Her New York turn showed a pale pink and black oeuvre with oversized, cylindrical sleeves, dramatic ruffles, and cage-like skirts. Her eye is playful, yet provocative, and always feminine.
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