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 Phillip
D. Johnson has his bets on Alice Roi, Behnaz Sarafpour, Tracy
Reese, Reem Acra, Peter Som, Zac Posen, Estaban Cortazar, James
Coviello, Proenza Schouler and Y & Kei as being the established
designers of tomorrow
PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHERYL GORSKI/WWW.CHERYLGORSKI.COM AND RICHARD SPIEGEL
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N THE FASHION BUSINESS, you are either
waiting for your close up for a long time or the spotlight
came looking for you before you are prepared for all that
it entails. Long-time industry insiders are walking encyclopedias
of stories about young designers who, like certain stars in Hollywood,
shone too bright too fast before rapidly burning themselves out
and disappearing from the scene. The following young design talent
whose fall 2004 collections are being reviewed here are members
of the latest crop to be discovered by the early adopters within
the industry but they have one major point in their favour: they
are not green behind the ears nor are they flashes in the pan; and
while they still do have a ways yet to go, they are set on a course
to become the elder statesmen (and women) of the industry within
the next 10–20 years.
Alice Roi
I FELL IN LOVE with Alice Roi several
years ago when she sent down her runway a collection of the most
subversive, youthful ladies-who-lunch designs of that particular
market week. It wasn’t just that her designs were fun and somewhat
unique (given what was being shown by her colleagues); it was that
her collection rang true and found a receptive audience. Then I
fell out of love just a bit with the rather unfocused, less-than-thrilling
designs she showed in subsequent seasons after that. Well, I am
back in love again. Her fall 2004 collection showed that she was
back on sure footing and rearing to reclaim some of the acclaim
she received early in her career. Ms Roi showed a look that was
more pulled together, but one which also demonstrated that she hasn’t
lost her sense of humour or well-known sense of quirkiness that
made her designs such a hit with her customers. Standout pieces
included her overtly sexy ‘baroque’ dust-print sleeveless shift
dress, her ‘Gaudi’ dress in tobacco, the trim-and-proper pairing
of a dove ‘Parisian’ blouse and split front knee-length skirt topped
by a mahogany ‘Le Journal’ cardigan sweater and her ‘Le Plume’ cocktail
dress.
CONTINUED
Ms Roi showed a
look that demonstrated that she hasn’t lost her sense of humour
or well-known sense of quirkiness that made her designs such a hit
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