Jeffrey Monteiro

>> Jeffrey Monteiro to Make Bill Blass Debut Next Week —The little-known designer Jeffrey Monteiro, who was hired at Bill Blass last December to bring the high-end label back (it was shuttered in December 2008), will preview his first collection for the brand next week for the Cruise 2011 season. The collection will be shown next Thursday, July 10, during a presentation at the Bill Blass showroom. [FWD]

>> As previously suggested, relative newcomer Jeffrey Monteiro, an alum of Jane Mayle and Derek Lam with a year-old collection of his own under his belt, is the newest design director at Bill Blass. He was chosen from among 100 applicants and starts in January with the intention of bringing a high-end Bill Blass collection back to stores next Winter.

New brand owners Bill Blass Group let the label lay fallow since purchasing it last year, allowing half of the 20 licensees to expire.  According to Group president Scott Patti, “There was not a lot of business left out there, so it kind of cleaned itself up.”

Patti noted that Monteiro, the fifth designer to take over the label since Bill Blass retired in 1999, was chosen because “he’s very low-key and realistic. Bill Blass designed real clothes, and that’s what Jeffrey does as well.” Monteiro, for his part, was mum on what he has in mind for the brand, only telling the New York Times that his idea customer is a young professional woman and that he was thinking about colors based on the paintings of Clyfford Still. “The challenge is to take something that has such weight and nostalgia and make it modern and fresh."

There's nothing I like more than a feminine collection with a menswear twist. That's where Jeffrey Monteiro comes in. The designer — who's had past stints at Mayle and Derek Lam — embarked on a journey to create his namesake collection back in 2008 and hasn't looked back since.

Monteiro's sharp eye for tailoring makes me want to throw out all of my flowy tops and replace them with his pleated blouses and structured blazers. His bottoms are also something to recognize; cropped cut pants, straight minis, and intricate girly skirts dominated his Spring '10 collection. And the soft hues of beige, gray, pink, and blue? So crisp and so clean.


To see more from Jeffrey Monteiro's Spring '10 collection, read more

>> Bill Blass May Have a New Designer Soon —After the whole Peter Som/bankruptcy debacle which has been ongoing for the past year, Bill Blass may finally be ready to start anew.  Originally, a Spring 2010 collection was supposed to be shown, and Richard Chai's name was thrown around for Blass's new creative director, but neither happened. Now, it sounds like Jeffrey Monteiro, who was design director for Derek Lam before starting his own collection for Fall 2008, may be the man to revive Blass next.  Owner Peacock International Holdings declined comment except to say that news about Blass will come in the next few weeks. [WWD]

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