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Archives for October 2009

“Hipsters are Afraid of Color,” Claims Designer JoAnn Berman

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I didn’t get a chance to attend JoAnn Berman’s fashion show at the Castle Braid on Saturday, but she sent me photos of the pieces that she presented on the runway. Her store on Metropolitan Ave didn’t last long, but it seems to have given her back the time to be creative and inventive. You can see that in her no-holds-barred riffing and sampling of pan-Asian elements. The photos speak for themselves.

I also wanted to ask Berman to talk more on the subject of the local hipster fashion scene. She said something in her conversation with our fashion blogger Anne Szustek, last week, that I thought was provocative, and needed more clarification in her own words. She said, “I think Brooklyn needs to go crazy and take it beyond tattoos and nose rings. They need to [return] to dressing to promote a feeling.”

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Think Global / Act Local: Anavaa Kisasa

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Anavaa Kisasa goes beyond affordable fashion fare. In addition to owner Zulema George’s own line of smart, high quality, leather handbags, she helps promote young up-and-coming designers, locally- and internationally-based, including many emerging Caribbean designers, by introducing their work in her boutique on Metropolitan Ave, (just off of the Lorimer stop on the L train). A handful of those burgeoning designers’ works were recently profiled during fashion week held last month by independent label support organization Nolcha. 

In fact, Nolcha tapped Anavaa Kisasa to be a “retail incubator” to help young designers gain footing in the fashion market, a cornerstone of George’s philosophy behind Anavaa Kisasa.

Among the better-selling labels at the store include UNDFND, Ally Marie Couture Jewelry and leather-goods line Jypsea, alongside George’s own handbag line. George’s 2010 collection got some good exposure Oct. 7 at the Bagtrends Arm Candy party, which served double-duty as a US launch party for her season of bags which were first unveiled in Toronto, a week earlier.

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