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This Santa Cruz native and graduate of Cooper Union is a triple threat. Not only a fashion designer, Julian Louie is a photographer and artist whose work has exhibited in New York galleries Vagabond and Stay Gold. Perhaps that's why Calvin Klein's Creative Director Francisco Costa personally chose him to mentor.   MORE >>

This Santa Cruz native and graduate of Cooper Union is a triple threat. Not only a fashion designer, Julian Louie is a photographer and artist whose work has exhibited in New York galleries Vagabond and Stay Gold. Perhaps that's why Calvin Klein’s Creative Director Francisco Costa personally chose him to mentor.
 
The two met during Louie’s unsuccessful internship bid, but a year later, Costa tapped him for the Italian Vogue/AWI (Australian Wool Innovation) Protégé Project. Over the course of 2007, Louie worked as a design assistant on Klein's spring, pre-fall and fall '08 collections, while Costa oversaw the fledgling’s first line. Equally "austere and opulent," as Louie describes it, the inaugural outing showed in Florence, Tokyo and Australia.
Louie's fall 2009 show was inspired by matadors for the silhouette, samurai armor for the embroideries and knitwear and Olaf Otto Becker's photographs of Icelandic landscapes for the palette. Experimenting with heavy wool felt, Louie laser-cut jackets that were then assembled with rivets and centered the rest of the offerings around them. The asceticism was then set off with Swarovski sparkle, whether dusting the epaulettes of a jacket or cascading down the bodice of a dress. For Louie, "tension between elements is key," proving that Costa's instincts were on the mark.www.julianlouie.com   << LESS

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At only 22, Californian Austin Sherbanenko launched his own Los Angeles-based label Odyn Vovk after dropping out of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in 2007. Turning out a brooding, slightly savage menswear collection that contradicts the West Coast’s sporty-casual reputation, he’s already been picked up by, among others, Barneys New York in Tokyo as well as H. Lorenzo and Sartorialoft in his hometown.   MORE >>

At only 22, Californian Austin Sherbanenko launched his own Los Angeles-based label Odyn Vovk after dropping out of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in 2007. Turning out a brooding, slightly savage menswear collection that contradicts the West Coast's sporty-casual reputation, he’s already been picked up by, among others, Barneys New York in Tokyo as well as H. Lorenzo and Sartorialoft in his hometown.
 
For fall, it’s his leather outerwear that stands out, from a charcoal-hued coat Sherbanenko developed with an Italian tannery to hand-dyed leather jackets that "we made ourselves in buckets in the studio," Sherbanenko says. That kind of DIY spontaneity is part of the collection’s whole vibe. Odyn Vovk launched in spring '09, but Sherbanenko sees a silver lining in starting out during inauspicious economic times. "I have more time to correct my mistakes without it affecting me too much," he admits. "I don’t have to rush into anything." He might be a beginner, but that kind of slow-and-steady attitude bodes well for his success. odynvovk.com   << LESS

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Schooled in fashion and architecture in Florence and trained at Jil Sander and Romeo Gigli, Italo Zucchelli is a designer’s designer. Since 2004, the Italian creative director of the mens’ Calvin Klein Collection has approached the American brand’s heritage much like an architect would plan the renovation of a historic building.   MORE >>

Schooled in fashion and architecture in Florence and trained at Jil Sander and Romeo Gigli, Italo Zucchelli is a designer’s designer. Since 2004, the Italian creative director of the mens’ Calvin Klein Collection has approached the American brand’s heritage much like an architect would plan the renovation of a historic building.
 
“Working with Jil Sander gave me an understanding of minimalism at its core,” he explains. Add to that three years under the wing of Klein himself—spearheading four men’s and two women’s collections—and Zucchelli has fully and naturally embraced the company’s aesthetic, while showcasing his own background and point of view.
 
For fall, Zucchelli found his moment. An innovative expression of modern menswear, the line wasn’t shown in Milan, but, for the first time, during New York Fashion Week. Loafers flashed brushed-metal studs, while suits flaunted lean silhouettes. But the show-stoppers were the materials, notably a new Japanese fabric with the shine and consistency of mercury and an industrial foam that added structure and interest to jackets. The recent CFDA award-winner was inspired by a material rarely seen on the runway: padding used in bicycle seats.“I wanted to put the material together with something familiar and dressier and make it sleek and wearable.”
 
While Zucchelli is reluctant to draw a straight line between architecture and the current collection, he nonetheless admits the skills acquired during his studies are evident. “Architecture is about design, but the size, scope and materials are different,” Zucchelli says.
 
“My design process is rigorous, sometimes a little mathematical, which makes it close to how an architect works, since they, too, must take into consideration many elements. Both disciplines force you to be analytical to some extent.” Minimalism? Re-appropriating materials? A mathematical approach? Once an architect, always an architect.   << LESS

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More commonly seen in sturdy envelopes, DuPont’s Tyvek is now finding its way into stylish stuff    MORE >>

Marian Schoettle’s line of self-described “post-industrial folkwear” for MAU acquires new textural characteristics after every wash and wear. According to the designer, the jackets, bags and dresses “eventually become as supple as leather.” conceptualclothing.com



Long known for its innovative use of fabrics, Stone Island bonds Tyvek with nylon mesh in this Space Age windbreaker for added durability. stoneisland.com



Luis Eslava and Diego Ramos wowed audiences at the 2008 Tokyo Design Week with their Tyvek World installation of wrinkled chairs, modular rugs and geodesic vases, all composed of the papery synthetic. luiseslava.com, diegoramos.es 
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Louis Vuitton's artful spring collection is curated then captured at the PS1 MoMA MORE >>

Louis Vuitton's artful spring collection is curated then captured at the PS1 MoMA   << LESS