Showing posts with label LA Fashion Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LA Fashion Week. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Barbara Tfank & Reimagined Antique Print Dresses!

Its no secret.  I'm a huge sucker for print dresses.  I LOVE them.  I don't know why.  Clothes shouldn't be boring; flowers make me happy.  One of the designers who constantly delivers some of the coolest print dresses is Barbara Tfank.

Barbara Tfank is a Los Angeles-based designer.  She got her start in fashion as a costume designer in Hollywood and then started her own line in 2001.  And, I think she does amazing stuff with print fabric!

One of my favorite pieces from her Spring Summer 2011 collection is the floral dress on the right.  The cut is absolutely classic--all at once femme fatale Art Deco but also somehow 1960s flower child.  What makes it really modern is the pleating at the neck that's so hot right now.  Also, the cute little cap sleeves are ADORABLE!

The print of the fabric looks like redone antique flower lithographs--classic and beautiful but unique.  You don't see it every day, probably because its easy to make that kind of print look like you stole your grandmother's curtains and made a toga.  What makes this print work is that the dress cut is so modern and wearable that it balances out the possible stuffy-ness of the print.

Sure, its the height of winter but I can't stop thinking about how nice it would be to sit in a garden full of tulips and wear this dress!

Dress picture from style.com, antique flower print from Collectors Prints

You may be interested in reading my prior post about Barbara Tfank

Monday, March 1, 2010

Interview: Deborah Lindquist

Yes, I really did interview the woman herself!  The "Queen of Green" is one of the nicest designers I've ever met.  Deborah Lindquist is known as The Queen of Green because she's been making eco-friendly designs for over 10 years, before it was the new IT--and she knocks IT out of the park.

"Eco-friendly people are so sexy from all of the yoga and healthy eating and everything else that they do, why shouldn't they dress sexy too?"  Well, with Deborah's line, they can and do.  She's dressed The Pussy Cat Dolls, Sharon Stone and a whole variety of other celebrities.  The best part is, you'd never know it was all eco-friendly, recycled or organic unless someone told you.  She does "rockstar" in a way that any woman could wear it and look amazing--she designs her clothes to do the work for you.  Deborah knows that not all of her clients are performers, so she takes care to design pieces that can be paired with basics for an edgy yet appropriate outfit for a woman of any age.

"I love dressing confident women, and on what day is a woman more confident than her wedding day"--Deborah has slowly been incorporating bridal designs into her line.  It started because some of her clients kept asking for wedding gowns, and being client-centric that she is, Deborah obliged.  "I've found that eco-conscious women take that same aesthetic to their weddings--they don't want to harm the world on their happy day, and what better thing than a "green" wedding dress!"  Also, the wedding dresses usually aren't so over-the-top bridezilla that they can't be worn again, so not only are they made out of recycled materials, but they can actually be enjoyed again and again.

Deborah grew up in the farm country of the northern midwest and loved making costumes with vintage materials as a child.  She went on to attend Parsons in New York and shortly after moved to LA and launched her company.  As her career progressed, she always found herself drawn back to her inspirations as a child--vintage and antique wallpapers and fabrics.  Now, she reimagines those same prints from her childhood into appliques and screen prints for her designs.  The materials that she uses include old leather jackets, men's tweed blazers, recycled cashmere and vintage findings.  Everything is made in her LA studio with the greatest of care.  She also does custom work upon request.

Deborah Lindquist is sold at boutiques around the LA area such as Blue Planet, Fred Segal and Fleurt.  It is available online at www.deborahlindquist.com and www.devidoll.com    The pictures are from devidoll.com
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