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Charleston Fashion Week is upon us with a group of talented designers who hope to get noticed as the next Emerging Designer Competition. We caught up with eight past winners of the EDC to see what life has been like after their CFW experience.
2009 Marysia Reeves
A former ballet dancer and surfing enthusiast, Polish-born designer Marysia Dobrzanska Reeves has created a luxury swimwear brand that epitomizes poolside style.
The line, launched in 2009, eschews trendy prints and typical cuts for perfectly executed silhouettes in premium fabrics.
Her swimwear has been featured in the 2010 and 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editions, Vogue, Coastal Living, Teen Vogue and WWD.
The Marysia Swim collection has been picked up by Barney’s New York, Anthropologie and other high-end boutiques across the country and internationally.
Reeves has relocated to Los Angeles from New York with her husband, Nathaniel, and their two daughters.
2010 Larika Page
A native of Portland, Ore., Larika Page launched her debut collection in 2010 at Charleston Fashion Week.
She won the Emerging Designer of the Year for her Spring collection titled “Miami Beach — Circa 1950.” Page landed her first retail account with a luxury lifestyle boutique after exhibiting at Atlanta’s Apparel Mart.
“Winning CFW catapulted our brand into a more mainstream audience. It allowed exposure to people, markets, and regions that I had not been exposed to prior, but the most rewarding has been the growth of our custom division. We pride ourselves on the ability to keep our brand intimate so that we are able to provide the upmost quality to those that appreciate high fashion and individuality. We are forever grateful for the cult following we have been able to build with the help of CFW, that allows us to stay on par with our vision.”
2011 Charlotte Hess
Knitwear designer Charlotte Hess creates the entire Isobel & Cleo collection by hand and frequently uses organic and sustainable yarns. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Glasgow School of Art, Hess built on a solid fashion foundation through work experience and positions at Karen Walker, Nom*D, Remar Knitwear Factory, Salaam, and Free People.
Isobel & Cleo was born in Glasgow, Scotland, from a desire to sustain traditional handknitting and hand manipulated machine knitting techniques through producing knitwear.
Now based in a quaint studio on Nantucket Island, the collection uses the finest yarns and materials from around the world.
2012 Hannah Goff
Originally from North Carolina, Hannah Goff is based in New York City. She earned a bachelor’s degree in textiles from North Carolina State University and a master’s in fashion design from Savannah College of Art and Design.
After winning the Emerging Designer Competition in 2012, she established the Hannah Goff label.
With a heavy influence on print, pattern and texture, Goff sets out to create beauty in the overlooked problems and commonplace objects of our world. Goff’s signature is original print design and collage of multiple prints and fabrications to create a single garment. These designs have gained the attention of Elle.com and Nylon Magazine.
2013 Afriyie Poku
Ghanaian-born designer Afriyie Poku became entranced by arts and crafts at an early age. In 2000, he migrated to the United States and discovered his passion in design during his second year of college while pursuing a degree in electrical engineering.
In 2011, he made his way to Atlanta and provided tailoring services in a boutique within the city.
Among 20 emerging designers selected to show during the 2013 CFW, Poku was the only male contestant and menswear designer. He went on to win the “Overall Designer” and “People’s Choice” awards during the initial debut and finale showcase, a feat that has never been matched.
Following his victory Poku formed the brand OberimaAfriyie. The O.A. brand philosophy rests upon the belief that there is a gentleman in all of us.
2014 (tie) Rebecca and Leah Plante
Sisters Leah and Rebecca Plante grew up in Charleston. Their childhood was spent making paper dolls, playing dress up and begging their mom for a sewing machine. Both sisters moved away from Charleston for college. After college the sisters launched their clothing line “Plante,” after their surname and their shared love of nature. Their goal was to create garments that would be a joy to wear while using sustainable and ethical manufacturing practices.
Now in it’s sixth season, Plante is stocked in several boutiques around the country.
“Since our win, we’ve gone on to create four more collections,” says Becky Plante. “We’ve been picked up by about 10 stores, including revolutionary ecommerce sites like Garmentory and the Nineteenth Amendment. We were featured designers on Amazon Fashion. We now attend fashion trade shows twice a year to continue to grow our wholesale business, and we’ve seen increasing online sales on our own website as well.”
2014 (tie) Anna Toth
After graduating with an art degree in printmaking and ceramics at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, Anna Toth moved to San Francisco where she adopted the medium she’s loved most ever since: pattern making and clothing construction.
A few years and a few odd jobs later, she returned to Asheville and founded Bow + Arrow.
“Bow + Arrow was born of a desire to create something both lovely and wearable. We ride bicycles, sit on curbs, roll down soft, grassy hills, and jump spontaneously into refreshing bodies of water whenever possible. We want the clothes we make to keep up with us, and with you.”
2015 Gloria Forehand
Gloria Forehand was the winner of the 2015 Emerging Designer Competition at Charleston Fashion Week.
The Korean-born designer infused her heritage into every elegantly designed piece, giving her collection an authentic point of view. Eastern sensibility meets American wearability in her fall collection that focused on evening wear.See more at:blue formal dresses
