TSC Interviews

Rolando Santana knows dresses. He grew up surrounded by fabric (his mother was a dressmaker) and moved to New York City in 1991 to fulfill his fashion industry dream. After twenty years in the fashion capital of the world, Santana still finds inspiration for both color and structure in his homeland.

Do you have a theme in mind when you start a new collection? 

Yes. So for Spring 2011, it’s Modern Mexican Architecture. Then finding pieces that help me translate that onto a dress, whether it’s a color story or structure. For instance, we have one print that looks like cement. It’s very textured and printed on linen fabric. So seeing a cement wall and translating it onto a dress.

What inspired Modern Mexican Architecture?

My first collection launched in the height of the recession, so I really wanted my next collection to be bright, vibrant and inspiring. Being from Mexico, there are always such bright colors: yellows, reds, stripes. Previously, we played a lot with fabrics and draping. People reacted really well to it but were also inspired by the more sophisticated pieces – the blacks, neutrals, pieces that were classic but with a modern twist.

For 2011, I sought to combine those two elements. There is an architect named Luis Barragan, and he uses bright colors but his architecture is incredibly simple. I liked the combination. The main concept of the line is simple shapes with a lot of play on fabrics – pleating, draping, sequins, but sequins used for texture. Not bling all over.

Your first job when you graduated from FIT was for Spenser Jeremy. I read they “recognized your talent.” How so? 

Since it was a small family-owned company, I was exposed to the business end – production, merchandising, working with the design team. They had a private label and never a designer who really catered to the account. They wanted me to design a few dresses, and I made a presentation. I was assigned to the account. It was my first design job, and it opened the door creatively for me.

Why dresses?

Dresses are the ultimate feminine expression. The ability to create something special that is very easy to wear. With a dress, it’s just one piece. After so many years in the fashion world, you see pieces come and go, but the dress always remains. If a woman has a choice to buy separates or a dress, a dress is the way they will go. For everything.

Do you have a fashion design who inspires you?

Not a big name designer like Dior, but I’m inspired my contemporaries. More so by just traveling, people watching. Last weekend I was walking on the beach and started picking up stones. I was inspired by the sand, neutral colors. I started sketching some designs then in the studio, see if the fabrics works for them.

So if you could travel anywhere, where would it be?

Somewhere in Mexico. I would like to find a city that brings inspiration for fall. A city I haven’t been to where I could look at textiles and fabrics. Being remote from everything. I wouldn’t choose a glamorous spot, but rather explore within my roots and translate that into a more universal, cosmopolitan taste.

Santana and I spoke a bit about on the need to be remote and alone to find inspiration and work out designs. Creating space to be inspired is even harder for a designer launching their own line, their own business. Santana continually works to achieve this balance. When he left his studio last night, he sent me an email thanking me for my time. It was almost midnight.

To sample Rolando Santana’s dresses, visit his sale this week.

Emma Dinzebach

Fashion designer, Yigal Azrouël, didn’t attend design school. “I didn’t know I wanted to do this!” he confessed yesterday afternoon when he stepped out of his studio for a moment to chat on his current sample sale. Inducted into the CFDA in 2004, Azrouël debuted his first international runway show in Paris in Spring 2005. Heidi Klum, Kirsten Stewart and Katie Lee Joel are all fans of the Israeli-born, French-Moroccan designer. But like every designer, big and small, if he could choose to dress anyone, he would outfit fashion icon, Kate Moss.

How did you know you wanted to be a designer?

I was always attracted to fashion. Then I started making pieces for myself, then for friends. Eventually, I put together a small collection.

What do you consider your breakthrough pieces?

My leather jacket. Our t-shirt. We have a very special t-shirt that is washed with milk – something I developed in Italy. Also dresses. The dresses are a big category for us.

How would you categorize your style?

Simple. It’s not like making collections from the same fabric. It’s making individual pieces work together. Some pieces are fashion forward but in a very simple way. Clean lines, a cool little jacket, pants.

Who is wearing Yigal Azrouël now?

A lot of the cool, downtown crowd. When I go out… when I walk down the street, I see musicians, rock ‘n roll, actors, artists.

So when you spot someone walking down the street wearing your designs what do you think?

Depends who is wearing it, and how they are wearing the clothes. I don’t like when people try really hard. For me, less is more. But for the most part I get excited when I see someone wearing my designs. It completes my day.

I know you aren’t one to follow trends, so where do you derive inspiration?

My inspiration comes from the fabric. Most the day I’m sketching then draping, sketching then draping. Like sculpture – you don’t always know where you are going when you sculpt something, but you are slowly chipping away. I like when fabric surprises me… when it tricks me.

If you didn’t design clothing, what would you do?

I’d be surfing. I’ve been surfing since I was six.  Sometimes on a nice day with good swells, I go to Long Beach and surf then come back. I used to even go in the winter, but not as much anymore. I’m building a house in Costa Rica, and if I didn’t design, I’d live there and surf. And fish, so I could eat.

In one sentence, what do you do all day?

Think. I think all day long.

Emma Dinzebach

Renee DuMarr has “new found energy.” When I spoke with the womenswear designer early Thursday morning, she was at the hair salon dying her dark locks an easy shade of blonde. “You have to change it up,” she said with enthusiasm of a woman whose seven-year-old son now spends his days at school so she can focus on her business. After a twenty year career in fashion (she is the former Vice President of both Perry Ellis and K L Karl Lagerfeld), DuMarr struck out on her own and her namesake label aims to redefine apparel for overcommitted women.

How would you categorize your label’s style? 

Chic, classic, elegant…and a little bit out of the box.

Who is wearing Renee DuMarr now?

30 and up.

What inspired your current line, featured at next week’s sample sale?

My new found energy…and comfort. The line is a product of what I’m feeling. I’m rethinking and redefining all of the aspects of a woman’s life to create something that takes a woman out of her box, which is where I want to be.

In one sentence, what do you do all day?

I multi-task.

If you didn’t design clothing what would you do?

Work on the exchange floor or on a bond desk. I deal with colors, silhouettes, fabrics that are all real…that I can feel. If I didn’t do this, I’d be intellectually creative with numbers: packaging, buying, selling. They’re not really that different – finance and fashion – they just use different mediums.

If you could dress someone famous, who would it be?

Hilary Clinton, although she’s governed by her environment. Demi Moore. Sharon Stone. If Sarah Palin weren’t Sarah Palin, then Sarah Palin. I would love to dress Jackie O, but she’s dead.

After our interview, Renee sent me a text message that read “Thanks Emma! Always enjoy the journey. R” Like Renee, sassy but breezy, her designs reflect her present aim to balance her blessings. Because when you think about it, Lagerfeld or Legos, life yields infinite inspiration when we revel in our journey.

Emma Dinzebach

I recently had the pleasure to speak with accessory designer Shara Porter, whose products are featured at various locales throughout New York City, about her experiences as a young artist. The rest, they say, was history – and is featured below for The Vogue City readers.

What got you interested in art, leatherware and design?

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve like making things. I didn’t realize it could become my career. I pursued a more straight and narrow path for awhile; I studied public policy in college. I just didn’t realize what else was out there.”

What was spark that helped transition it into your career?

“I started listening to my heart instead of listening to what I thought I should do, and gave myself the space to do that. After I finished college I searched for awhile to see what I could pursue. I worked in New York City on custom wood furniture and custom design projects. I’ve been thrift shopping since I was young, and love the idea of finding something, cutting it up and turning it into something entirely different. I actually started a line the mid-to-late 90s of slip dresses. I would go around the country, picking up these great old slips at thrift shops; then, dye and embellish them. I eventually took a class at a craft school in North Carolina and it changed the way I approached everything – I realized I’d been too practical about what I was doing. I learned how to take an image and transfer it onto fabric; it got me excited conceptually. I came back to Brooklyn and took a few classes at FIT and Parsons, then applied to graduate school without having too much of an art background, but figured I could find my way. These experiences brought me to where I am today.”

Do you look toward any artists or designers for inspiration?

“David Ireland [cite what medium he specializes in] is great. He bought an old house in San Francisco with the intention of renovating it and started to break it down and just stopped. He left the walls bare, with the foundation exposed, and exhibited the house through installations and photography. I like the idea of making every day special in some way and looking for details in the obscure. I’m touched by things that are overlooked; probably because I felt like I was overlooked for awhile. I look for things that are discarded to see if I can resurrect them in some way. I also admire Rei Kawakubo, of Comme de Garcones, for her unique designs and the way she puts together
unexpected elements.”

What about bag designers?

“I don’t look to other bag designers for inspiration for my own line. For me, it’s about shape – simple shapes – and quality, and letting those things shine on their own. I love old Aigner bags. Old things are made so much better than they are today.”

How would you describe your personal style?

I like things that are worm – things that have an age and clothing that has some wear to it. I love quirky, unique things that I can chop up; things that are asymmetrical and unexpected. There has to be an element of surprise – a slit in the sleeve of a shirt or a print on a bag – in my style. I appreciate the unpredictable. You’ll notice a recycled element to my work; there’s so much waste and excess that I’d rather not contribute to the problem.”
Describe your ideal customer.

My products tend to do best in big cities. I’d say that my ideal customer is a woman in her mid-20s to early 40s, but am sometimes surprised – I’ve had women in their 60s respond positively to my bags as well. I guess more than age, my customers tend to be people who already have a unique style and want something that’s different and one-of-a-kind.”

Do you have any advice for those who are interested in starting their own accessory line?

“Just follow what you’re passionate about and eventually other people will see that passion. Be willing to learn the ropes of the industry as you go. I came at it through the back door, which is not conventional.”

Would you go back to what you were doing before?

“I wouldn’t go back. I just love the freedom of everyday doing something towards my business, making it my own. I hope that I can continue for awhile.”

Shara’s work can be found at 4 Play BK, 360 7th Avenue (718.369.4086) and Neda, 302 Court Street (718.624.6332) in Brooklyn, or at The Clothing Warehouse, 8 Prince Street (212.343.1967) in Manhattan. For further information about Shara Porter, or to get the full list of where you can purchase her pieces, please go to HYPERLINK “http://www.sharaporter.com/”http://www.sharaporter.com.

-Karyn Polewaczyk