The Emerging

In my last post, I discussed the hyper-saturation of fashion images during Fashion Week. As Fashion Week becomes more about pomp, I prefer to focus on the emerging talent that often narrowly escapes hype.

While we are bombarded with the latest images from Marc Jacobs or Céline, sometimes the newer names are forgotten in the frenzy. Although I may anxiously await images from the latest Prada show like any other fashion devotee, I firmly believe that today's emerging talent is in possession of strong, creative ideas that promise an exciting future for fashion.

In many ways, I find the emerging more thrilling than the designer names we know well. There is nothing more refreshing in fashion than an original viewpoint: when designers craft clothing that is beyond seasonal standards or trends, that is true to them.

Here, I have curated an array of some of my favorite emerging designer collections from Fall 2013 Fashion Week. The collections that I feature in this post showcased designs worthy of any big white tent.

Calla: Paris-based designer Calla Haynes defied the go-to monotony of fall color palettes for a cheery array of pastel blue and yellow and vivid shades of purple. The clothing is unabashedly feminine, yet comes in strong silhouettes fit for the modern independent woman. The resulting aesthetic is a refreshing pleasure for the eye, but it still holds promise for commercial success.
Emerging designers often focus on honing their design signature before focusing on merchandising, which makes it all the more wonderful to see a label like Calla appealing to both sides (and enticingly so).

Visit calla.fr

Jaimee McKenna: The Central Saint Martins M.A. graduate show demonstrates innovative technique in fashion design. In other words, the designers showcased are pressed to stand out from their peers. As part of the show, Jaimee McKenna presented otherworldly examples of pleating that would make Issey Miyake ecstatic.
Textured fashions on the runway often lose some of their appeal when transferred to a digital medium, but McKenna's don't: they radiate from the screen in all their cobalt glory. The quality craftsmanship is evident even in such a small number of looks. It just goes to show that fashion's future is in the hands of the youth.

Kaelen: Kaelen Haworth did a wonder with grays in this collection, but I couldn't keep my eye off of these raspberry and violet separates. Contemporary clothing often has a way of pairing beautiful with boring. This collection paired familiar silhouettes with unexpected jolts; in these two looks, color was the added surprise.
Sometimes there is a missing connection between a designer's vision and what women want to wear, but it seems that Kaelen has a way of knowing what her customers want before they do. And that is what makes a label persevere.

Visit kaelennyc.com

Simone Rocha: Dublin-born designer Simone Rocha knows her fabrics. Although her Fall 2013 show extended much beyond what I've featured here, these minimalist pink designs best showcase her signature talent. Her sharp silhouettes are consistently well-executed, with an underlying femininity that revels in its strength. It takes a skilled designer to create clothing that is unfussy and clean but still innovative. In some cases, these descriptions are harshly contrastive, but in Rocha's collection they marry in such an exquisite way.

Visit simonerocha.com

All images from Style.com

What were your favorite up-and-coming designers at Fashion Week?