Stitch magazine’s designer showcase

Saturday, March 8, 2003

Written by Staff Writer Heather McClellan

Stitch magazine is out to restore fashion’s sense of elegance and astounding beauty by giving promising new designers a leg up, if you will. One finds no John Galliano homeless-inspired collections here—the clothes showcased both in the magazine and at Stitch’s runway presentation are as elegant as one could hope for. Publisher Oswald Lucca had to have been proud as the audience ooohed and aaaahed, bursting into spontaneous bouts of applause as unspeakably beautiful clothes which were paraded before them.

With a circulation of 80,000 and a staff of six writers, Stitch (a year into its public life) caters to the affluent fashion devotee who can afford a life of luxury. Eveningwear, sportswear, accessories, architecture and interior design are all covered with in the magazine, whose motto is “Stitch. It holds fashion together!”

At this runway event, Liberty News Online interviewed seven of the showcased designers.
Etu Evans, with his line of thusly named couture footwear and accessories, is going to give women what they never knew they wanted. Nicknamed “Harlem Blahnik” by his friends, Mr. Evans creates elegant and sensual shoes an accessories for women and men: his new boutique in Harlem, “Sole Kitchen,” combines the über-luxe shopping experience of having custom-made shoes with, in a second room, the option of perusing the ready to wear line (which is also sold in Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus, not to mention the cities of Paris, London, and Tokyo). Shoes retail for $400-$700, and boots go for $900-$1,400. Mr. Evans is also in the middle of negotiating a line of shoes with Payless Shoe Store called “Soul Graffiti by Evans”.

Kelley Carter New York is a line of dresses, tops, swimwear and pants inspired by nature and architecture. The result is ethereal, flowing, elegant clothes. Having had her first exposure on Black Entertainment Television’s spring break fashion show over a year ago, Ms. Carter hopes to eventually own her own boutique. Her “girly, but not overtly sexy” designs retail for $45-$200. For more information, please go to www.dressedbykc.com.

Vaine, by Bruce Brantch, was formed only six months ago, and Mr. Brantch (who has been designing for seven years) hopes to “take the industry by storm” with his fresh and funky designs. This line of women’s sportswear is trendy and sophisticated, using luxurious fabrics: pieces retail for $125-$300 and are sold in boutiques in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and North Carolina—Mr. Brantch hopes to eventually sell his line across the country.

Luia (loo-ya) is a line of fantastically beautiful, elegant eveningwear, with no holds barred in the luxe department. Designers Shawn Olsen and Lenington Ridley design gowns “for the woman who wants to be her own person” using luxurious silks, velvets, prints and burn-outs, focusing especially on wonderful colors such as gold, fuchsia and chartreuse. These embellished gowns (one of which features a three-foot silk train) are not meant to be seasonal, and are going to kept high-end: pieces retail for $800-$4,000. For more information, please go to www.luia.net.

Robert Knight’s funky men’s and women’s sportswear line, Knightwear, has been around for twenty years. A skinny child, he would often resort to tailoring his store-bought clothes to attain a perfect fit—by the age of eighteen, he was designing. His specialty is outerwear, for which he utilizes leathers, suedes, and denims. Mr. Knight works out of his home (with aspirations of owning a boutique), producing clothes for individual clients. Jeans start at a mere $65 (outstanding for the quality level!), and a fall/winter fur coat goes up to $700. For more information, please go to www.roberteknight.com.


Oliver Helden produces menswear that ranges from dapper, old-world bespoke-type menswear to conceptual clothing, which uset high-tech materials, including the likes of fiber optic fabrics. Mr. Helden’s line has been around for two years now, and the current collection uses luxurious wools and cottons to produce immaculately tailored men’s garments with details such as seams busted open and dress shirts with single-needle tailoring. Shirts retail for $130, pants for $175, and jackets go for $250-$300.


Basca is a line of exquisitely exotic Indian-inspired, very tailored shirts and trousers; the line even includes beautiful saris for men. While the designer has worked with others designers in the past, he just graduated graduate school at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and has done a number of shows in Manhattan. TO ADD PLACE,TIME,@ THE TOP.

For more information about Stitch magazine, or, if you are interested in subscribing to Stitch Magazine, please contact the Publisher, Mr. Oswald Lucca at stitch@aol.com


 

Betty Coker, Chairwoman of the H.A.D. Organization of N.Y.C., Inc & Senior Editor of the Liberty News Online, will write articles about modeling, fashion design, fashion events, and how she co-founded the World's Largest Community Fashion & Modeling Organization.

If any of you models, designers, festival promoters, or fashion show promoters are interested in having an article written about you in this section, please feel free to contact us using any of the information below. If you are interested in modeling with us, or interested in a free presentation (no experience necessary--we are presently looking for models, for our New York Mega Show 2003, ranging in age from 3 to 60--including male, female, and child models, all sizes, heights and ethnicities welcome), please feel free to visit my website.

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