Phillip Lim! Thank you all for voting for FabSugar Designer of the Year. To see the final results, click here. And congratulations to 3.1 Phillip Lim!
Since I now know who your favorite designer from 2006 was, and Lim's Spring designs are starting to appear in stores, to buy them, read more
I hope you all participated in the FabSugar Designer of the Year running last month. In case you missed it, you can still participate! Check out the nominees and vote. I will be announcing the winner this Friday! As of right now, though, it looks like 3.1 Phillip Lim is in the lead with Louis Vuitton in a close second.
Vote baby vote!
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You've read the bios and seen the collections. Now it is time to see which hot designer Fab readers think deserves the title of FabSugar Designer of the Year.
In brief:
Behold, the fifth and final nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year: 3.1 Phillip Lim. This young designer is relatively new to the fashion scene, although those familiar with the label Development, would recognize his fresh tailoring and sweet blouses. In 2004, the designer left Development to start a new line with a friend, and now business partner, spawning 3.1 Phillip Lim. Interestingly, the 3.1 indicates the age the friends/partners were when they embarked on this endeavor: 31 years old.
This year the Fashion Group International acknowledged Lim by honoring him first place in Women’s Designer ‘Rising Star’ category. Next he was in the running for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award; he was beat by fellow FabSugar Designer of the Year nominee Doo.Ri. I have also noticed an increasing number of Hollywood starlets in his designs so get ready to see more of Lim.
And the clothes? His New York runway debut was his Spring '07 collection. Working almost exclusively in white, with shots of navy, as well as a colorful floral, Lim proved he's not only a romantic who can craft a handmade rosette decorated T-shirt dress, but also an accomplished tailor. Lim has a knack for combining dressy and casual - take a cotton voile strapless bell dress paired with a men's leather pilot vest, for instance; or a girlish jumper with an attached bodice made of sequins. Referring to this collection, Booth Moore, of the Los Angeles Times said, “This fashion week a star was born: Phillip Lim!” See for yourself:
Stick around to cast your vote later today! Make sure you have reviewed all the nominees for FabSugar Designer of the Year. We will all be able to witness the votes tabulate and you have to vote to see who wins! Happy Holidays Fab fans!
For the complete 3.1 Phillip Lim Spring 2007 collection, read more
Whether this designer wins FabSugar Designer of the Year or not, 2006 was definitely a plentiful year for Doo.Ri. This new designer won both the Perry Ellis Award for emerging talent in womenswear and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in the past year and based on your response to her Spring '07 collection she may have a third win coming her way.
Doo.Ri has a rags-to-riches story. In 2001, Doori Chung started promoting her label, Doo.Ri, at her downtown New York store Klee. She debuted on the runway for Fall 2003. Before receiving much-needed funding, she had been creating out of the basement of her parents’ New Jersey dry-cleaning store. Then poof! Doori received an Ecco Domani award and then the aforementioned awards. Editors and shoppers alike adore her designs for their interesting architectural details and she works primarily with jersey - the ever-flattering fabric. Her finishing touches are chains that close a dramatically plunging back line and leather bands that cinch the waist. So where is Doo.Ri designing from now? A spacious, light-filled Manhattan work space. Nice.
Tune in tomorrow for our fifth and final nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year and the voting will take place tomorrow afternoon!
For Doo.Ri's complete Fall 2006 & Spring 2007 collections, read more
The third nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year is what you get when you pair one of the oldest French fashion houses with one of New York's fashion darlings. In 1997, Marc Jacobs was crowned the designer for Louis Vuitton and his collections have been spot on ever since. Pre-LV Marc Jacobs designed for Perry Ellis in 1986, and his tightly-knit polo shirts and cable knit cashmere sweater dresses gave way to grunge. Still remembered in fashion circles, the fashion wunderkind sent combat boots and dirty plaid down the runway, to very mixed results. Jacobs was fired in 1992...yes, fired! But whatever, that's just fashion history.
Marc immediately began an incredibly lucrative clothing business while modernizing Vuitton by collaborating with such artists as Stephen Sprouse (who irreverently graffitied bags) and later Takashi Murakami (who added a bubble-gum anime humor to the line). This year his Fall '06 collection was a trailblazer and his Spring '07 collection offered a big dose of true romance. Both would have made Mr. Vuitton proud.
Tune in tomorrow for our fourth nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year and the voting will take place this Friday.
For Louis Vuitton's complete Fall 2006 & Spring 2007 collections, read more
Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, the wonder boys behind Proenza Schouler, are the second nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year. You all seemed to fancy them when I wrote a Spring '07 runway review and soon we'll all be able to experience this duos designs on the cheap via Target in the Spring (yay!). Though I admittingly still have a hard time pronouncing their design name, a combo of their mother’s maiden names, these boys have earned themselves quite the reputation since their arrival on the scene in 2002. Proenza Schouler were presented with the CFDA’s Perry Ellis Award for new talent in 2003 and have continued to shine each subsequent season.
Skilled detailing is their strong suit, and they are considered a youthful luxury line that preserves the idea of dressing up. The Fall '06 and Spring '07 collections showed sleek and minimal silhouettes with a soulful cheekiness and were a graceful nod to the mod trend we saw so much of this year. Some of their favorites include: tailored printed coats, thin pencil skirts, color-blocked chiffon evening gowns, and minimal silhouettes that mostly come in dark neutrals.
Tune in tomorrow for our third nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year and the voting will take place this Friday.
For Proenza Schouler's complete Fall 2006 & Spring 2007 collections, read more
Oh to be Donatella Versace. Talk about the ultimate jet-setter, Donatella is one of fashion's most decadent divas. While Versace is historically known for electric colored, body-hugging, sex-oozing designs she shined this year with more wearable, tailored collections. But don't get me wrong - her Fall '06 and Spring '07 collections were still all about grandiose sexiness. When she took the design reigns after Versace founder and Donatella's brother, Gianni Versace, was murdered in 1997, the designer maintained the label's aesthetic of European-style glamour, and irreverent rock-star attitude.
Tune in tomorrow for our second nominee for FabSugar Designer of the Year and the voting will take place this Friday.
For Versace's complete Fall 2006 & Spring 2007 collections, read more
2006 was the year of the fashion designer. Actually, it was the year of the dog, but to me, it was the year of the fashion designer. This week I am going to profile five designers up for the FabSugar Designer of the Year and then we're all going to vote on Friday. You may want to take yourselves out of holiday mode and back to our Fashion Week coverage to prepare. Who are the nominees? You'll have to wait and see! Here's a preview:
