Arts Dedicated Followers of Fashion
All this Project Runway mania has got me thinking about designers I love.
If my salary increased ten fold, I’d blow a fair amount of cash on Valentino and Marc Jacobs, but I’d retain my appreciation of smaller independent designers, such as Fancy Pony Land, a thoroughly charming label run by Lorna Leedy (an outfit from her Spring 2005 collection is pictured above). I was initially turned on to her work by Lipstick Traces owner Jenn Gallucci, a passionate local champion of outsider designers. Leedy’s work is always inspired by nature (not nearly as hokey as it sounds) and is characterized by her unmistakable, engaging leather appliqué work.
I’ve since bought four of her shirts, including a customized version of this one (she made mine red and added “ejaculating” rhinestones). If my apartment caught on fire, I’d grab my cat, my vintage Marantz receiver, and that shirt on my way out the door.
I also picked up this one with circling great white sharks, and this one with angry, “killer” tomatoes, and I’m still coveting this skirt covered with happy teeth and peppermints.
I’m also a huge fan of the shirts and jewelry on the website of indie collective Chocosho and the handbags at Queen Bee Creations (though their ubiquity is making them slightly less appealing).
What about Slog readers? Tell us which designers, big or small, are currently rocking your world.
I think Balenciaga and Lanvin continue to create beautiful pieces, season after season. I love everything they send down the runway. I also think that the girl that wears them has to be ballsy and confident.
Too bad most everything from those houses costs more than I make in a month.