13-year-old Texas fashion designer finds success

At the age of 9, Isabella Rose Taylor—a painter since she was 3—took a week-long sewing class with an eye toward incorporating textiles into her artwork. She quickly discovered a love for fashion design as well, taking the class twice more that summer. Now, at 13, her line is debuting at Nordstromstores this fall and she's set to hold her first show at New York Fashion Week.
"It just started out as a really fun hobby and it grew into a business over the years," Taylor said at her Austin, Texas, home, where she's converted one room into a studio and another into an office. She added, "I just really fell in love with it the way I fell in love with art, and I realized that I just had so much fun connecting the two."
With inspiration from an abstract mixed media painting she did when she was younger that includes reds, grays, blues, mustard yellow and neutral earthy tones, Taylor created a fall line with a "street grunge vibe" and "modern hippie" inspiration. "It all started with the colors of the painting for me," Taylor said.

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Jennifer Jackson Brown, a corporate merchandise manager for Nordstrom, said Taylor's line was a good fit for their juniors section. She said that at the same time she was contacted by Taylor's camp, her team had been trying to track Taylor down after seeing her on a television appearance.
"What we really liked about her is that she is actually the age of customer so there's that relatability factor that she has," Jackson Brown said. "And on top of it, she's quite aspirational for them at the same time."
Jackson Brown said they were not only impressed with her "keen sense of creating," but also with her ability to explain how each piece works with the others and how the collection came together. "She's actually quite a visionary at the age of 13," Jackson Brown said.
"I think sometimes what a designer misses is that people want to understand how to dress head-to-toe and she was able to do that," Jackson Brown said.
Taylor's fall collection includes "shorties," high-waisted shorts made of a soft knit that can be paired with leggings and boots. There's also a flannel jacket featuring one of the details she likes to include: a tiny American flag button on the pocket. A jersey baby doll dress and a henley tunic dress feature the painting that inspired the collection.
Taylor said that after taking the sewing classes, she gradually got more serious about fashion, making clothes for friends, designing a collection and eventually getting a handful of items produced and selling them online and at trunk shows. Her line is now produced in Los Angeles.
Taylor went to school on an accelerated schedule, graduating from high school at 11 and now attending community college.
Sherri Taylor said it was apparent early on that her daughter had an aptitude for art. "When she was really young we really noticed how she played with colors and it was just very unusual," she said. "We knew that something was happening so we just kept buying her more colors."
"She's tried a lot of different things and some things stuck and something things didn't, but art and fashion have been consistent," she said, adding that her daughter's fashion career "just kind of snowballed."
Jennifer LaTorre-Daly, a 20-year veteran of the fashion industry, joined Taylor's team last fall as the New York-based strategic planning director, focusing on getting Taylor's clothes in major retail outlets. "It's a great concept: She's designing for her peers," LaTorre-Daly said.
Taylor said that even though her schedule can be hectic, she enjoys it and feels like she has a good balance of school, art, fashion and just hanging out with friends. And she points out that she has friends who are just as busy with interests like acting or dance.
"The way I see it is I get to follow my dream and be a teenager at the same time. I think I'm pretty lucky in that respect," she said.
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Mercedes-Benz Start Up names three finalists in emerging designer contest

Three designers based in B.C., Ontario and Quebec have made the final cut in a national contest for emerging Canadian designers.
Vancouver Island's Eliza Faulkner, Alberta-born, Toronto-based Sid Neigum and Montreal-based Valerie Tolila of the label Vaiken are finalists in the Mercedes-Benz Start Up program.
The trio will take part in the national finale at Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week in October, with each vying for a prize package that includes a $30,000 bursary and a fully produced runway show during Fashion Week next March. Three additional wild card finalists will be announced next week.
This will be the second consecutive Start Up final for womenswear designer Faulkner, who recently blogged about and posted a photo of Oscar winner Marisa Tomei wearing one of her designs.

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Neigum showcased his fall-winter collection during Toronto's Fashion Week last March and already has another emerging designer award to his credit as winner of the TFI New Labels contest in 2012. Womenswear designer Tolila is a graduate of Montreal's LaSalle College and has styled for magazines in Montreal and Lisbon.
Designers competing in Start Up must have a registered Canadian business that has been operating for less than five years. This marks the fourth year in the nationwide search for Canada's up-and-coming fashion talents. Semi-final runway shows were held this month in Victoria, Gatineau, Que., and Burlington, Ont.
The cash award is a new addition to the Start Up initiative. But rather than cutting the designers a cheque, the funds will be administered by a mentoring team.
"Helping them to manage their finances is part of the mentorship and we feel that this is going to be the best way forward," said Jarrad Clark, vice-president and global creative director of IMG Fashion Events & Properties, whose organization spearheads Fashion Week and Start Up.
"There are programs out there that just give cash to the designers, and I've known on a number of occasions where that's just meant that's a wonderful holiday or just paid off their credit card and that's not what this is about."
Clark said while Start Up wasn't created to be a cash prize property, industry feedback revealed that a number of younger designers require a certain level of seed funding support.
Designers will still have to go through the process of submitting why money is required as part of their business plan, he noted. "It's actually going to be made sure that it's in the development of their brand and their collection."
Clark said designers will continue to benefit from mentorship until the fall finale, which includes getting suggestions and even critiques on their collections as they're in development.
"It's a real world experience because the Holy Grail is to present your collection in a way that you want to see it presented. And this way, they get to have their hand held, so to speak.
"Some need it more than others, some have got a very clear vision in what they need. It means that they get the chance to tap into experts in their area of expertise."
Previous Start Up winners include design duo Danielle Martin and Pao Lim of Martin Lim and Montreal's Duy Nguyen. The prize was most recently shared by co-winners Cecile Raizonville of Montreal-based label Matiere Noire and Edmonton's Malorie Urbanovitch.
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Karl Lagerfeld shoots Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst in suspenders for fashion shoot

Karl Lagerfeld shot a series of portraits for an editorial entitled “The New Normal” featuring Austrian singer Conchita Wurstand pregnant model Ashleigh Good.
The legendary creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label shot the drag queen sensation for CR Fashion Book, the fashion magazine of his friend and former Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld.
Wurst poses in new-season Givenchy, Prada, Chanel and Rick Owens with a perfectly groomed brunette hair and his trademark beard. In one photo he appears wearing suspenders alongside top model Ashleigh Good.
Good is a favourite of the German fashion designer, she modelled the closing look at Chanel’s haute couture show which took place in Paris last month.

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Karl Lagerfeld said: "I like Conchita because not only does he really have a voice but he has done something that's never been done before.
"We have all heard of "bearded ladies" but no one has ever seen a bearded man posing as a lady... This brings new meaning to the term 'drag'"
Talking about the photoshoot, he said: "A skinny musician next to a pregnant top model, it was a game of volumes."
Carine Roitfeld added: “It wasn't as easy as I had imagined… it was a sensitive subject, but Karl's talent in photographing with a classical style gave more strength to Conchita's character.”
25-year-old Wurst, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, made his catwalk debut last month, when he closed Jean Paul Gaultier’s autumn/winter haute couture show in Paris. Gaultier usually saves that spot for the collection’s show piece design – the wedding dress however this season Wurst took the bride’s place wearing a black dress.
The iconic designer bowed at her feet in a theatrical appreciation. “I always say that beauty is difference and Conchita has shown us all that she is unstoppable. And she looks great in couture; she is a real couture woman,” Gaultier told The Independent post-show.
In the publication’s feature, Wurst said: “I created Conchita as the goal of a very long… well, actually, it's the story of my life. I grew up in a small Austrian village, a quite conservative one, and I was the weird little boy always dressing as a girl.”
“[Being transgender] is very serious business; it's a life within itself, so you mustn’t confuse the two. I always get the question, why the beard? And I think the beard, for me, has so many reasons and so many meanings, but at the end of the day, I want to show that you can achieve anything, that you can have a beautiful life with an kind of look, because the way you look isn't the most important thing in life. It doesn't matter.”
Last week another shoot from the new issue of CR Fashion Book was released, which featured 13-month-old Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter, North West. The baby was pictured wearing Chanel with a headline on the page that read “The Future”.
Another recent photoshoot from the publication saw models wearing the bizarre Chinese summer accessory of facekini.
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Fashion that makes the grade

Whether or not school will actually start on time this September, at least your kids’ fashions will be right on schedule
Even if there is no good news on the teachers’ strike, there is at least good news on the style front — this fall sees lots of great clothes that kids will find fun to wear, yet are practical, affordable and nice enough that parents won’t mind spending money on them.
After all, says Tina Barkley, the back-to-school specialist for Target Canada stores, “It’s such an expensive time of year. It’s stressful and it’s expensive.”
Back-to-school shopping is not only a big spend, it’s also a big time commitment: On average, Barkley says, parents make four trips each summer to the mall for back-to-school clothes, accessories and supplies. The key, then, is to make the whole experience as painless as possible.
What parents are looking for, says Joseph Mimram, creative director of Joe Fresh, is both fashion and function.

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“They want their kids to look great, but also be able to run around the playground comfortably,” he says. “And they want prices that if an arts and crafts project winds up all over a new blouse and it’s unsalvageable, it’s not a huge loss.”
Here are just a few ideas to get you shopping.
For boys:
“Everyone always thinks that there’s nothing fun for boys, but that’s just not true,” Barkley says.
That’s definitely the case this year, when we’re seeing a rainbow of bright, cheerful colours for boys of all ages, as well as jaunty graphic tees, athletica-inspired gear and practical, preppy wear, all combined in easy layers.
“It’s kind of a mishmash ... a real play between athletic and casual,” Barkley says
Adds Emily Scarlett, spokeswoman for H&M: “For boys, you’re going to see everything from that 1950s preppy look with chinos and varsity jackets, to a throwback to that 1990s hip-hop vibe. I think that athletica is a really big trend for both adults and kids. A lot of that has to do with that homage in fashion to 1990s style.”
Expect to see graphic tees, sweatpants in black, grey and white, cute letterman jackets, collegiate sweaters, camouflage patterns, loads of denim, colourful sneakers and plenty of yellow, red, blue and orange for boys of all ages.
For younger boys, you’ll see more licensed characters like superheroes and this season’s trendy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; for older boys, it’s more about chambray shirts and chinos. “The basic trends are the same, though,” Barkley says.
Ultimately, Mimram says, “There are a lot more options for boys these days, but boys’ clothing is still a lot about functionality.”
For girls:
For girls, this season is one of mixing sweet and tough pieces in truly wearable style.
“Back to school is a fun season to blend different styles and trends,” Mimram says. “This fall we are mixing softer and more edgy styles. Pairing printed blouses with faux leather moto jackets, graphic sweatshirts with A-line skirts, lace peplum blouses with riding boots.”
If all that sounds a bit familiar, well, it is.
Barkley points out that a lot of trends are carrying over from last season (which is good news if the clothes still fit), but girls’ fashion is also offering nods to trends we last saw in the 1980s and 1990s, especially the grunge trend that’s making a surprise comeback this season.
“For the girls you’re seeing lots of 1990s fashion, that grunge influence with micro floral prints,” Scarlett says. “And contrasting that, the punk rock influence.”
Think floral baby doll dresses, jackets and tops mixed with plaid shirts, camo pieces, pleather moto jackets and ankle booties.
“A lot of the trends are similar (between younger and older girls). It’s just playing with length and silhouette, how it’s being worn at different ages,” Scarlet says.
For instance, high school girls might take an edgier approach, perhaps with a jean jacket tied around the waist and a pair of Doc Martens boots. “For little, little girls, it’s Hello Kitty,” Barkley says. “When you get into the older kids, there’s more sophistication.”
In addition, animal prints are everywhere, and not just in the hues you see in nature, but in bright, vivid colours and in exotic prints like zebra and giraffe. Find them on shoes, jackets, dresses, backpacks, binders and just about everywhere.
“We’re also seeing a lot of embellishment,” Scarlett says. “A lot of appliqué, also a lot of embroidery detail on jeans, embroidery detail on jackets.”
“We’ve seen a lot of lace and we’re going to see more and more of it,” adds Barkley. Also expect to see sequins, bows, plaid, camo and trendy hues of pink, mauve, purple, teal and turquoise.
For both:
On both girls and boys, one thing you can expect to see plenty of is denim.
“Denim vests, denim shirts, denim pants, denim jackets. Tons of denim,” Scarlett says. Adds Barkley: “For the boys, it’s denim-denim. For girls, it’s the patterned and coloured denim.”
For both, it’s the return of the “Canadian tuxedo.”
“We’re feeling denim on denim this season,” Mimram says. “Mixing styles and washes in a playful way. We have embellished denim shirts, jean jackets, tunics, dresses and jeans in a ton of styles and washes.”
For both boys and girls, you can also expect to see an echo of grown-up fashions, what Scarlett calls “the mini-me trend.”
“It’s definitely an evolution. There’s a trickle down from the big fashion influences,” she says. “It starts in ladies wear and then it trickles down to kids’ and teens’ wear.”
“A lot of the trends are parallel, but children’s clothing tends to be more playful,” Mimram adds. “You’ll find the standard striped tees, distressed denim, and plaid shirts for both adults and kids — but also graphic prints for boys and sparkle accents for girls to give off a more youthful vibe.”
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Meet The Nigerian Fashion Designer Building Africa's Hermès

Kunmi Otitoju, a 30-year-old Nigerian fashion designer and entrepreneur, holds two Computer Science degrees – a Bachelor of Science degree with first-class honors from Howard University and a Master of Science degree from Virginia Tech. But her first love was Fine Art. As a high school student in Lagos, she won the Fine Arts prize at school every year – for 3 years.
Having moved to the U.S. when she was 17, and then to Europe at the age of 25, Otitoju found herself deeply enmeshed in western culture. Keen on preserving her Nigerian identity and eager to propagate facets of Nigerian culture, she conceived the idea of lining high-quality leather bags with Aso-oke fabric, a hand-loomed cloth woven by Nigeria’s Yoruba people.
In 2011, after stints at Goldman Sachs and a few other internationalcorporations, Otitoju established Minku, a fast-growing high-end Afro-centric brand that produces luxury bags, wallets and other fashion accessories for men and women by subtly blending Aso-oke into contemporary Spanish leathers to present a transcontinental finish.

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All Minku’s products are hand-made at a workshop in Barcelona, Spain, but they are sold at high-end stores in Nigeria and on the company’s website.
Otitoju recently spoke to me about her journey, her future plans, and the state of luxury goods in Africa.
Why Aso-Oke?
For me, Aso-Oke is luxury. It is hand-woven, the weaving is dense, in the imperfection of the weaving lies evidence of the human touch, and it comes in sophisticated colours and patterns. What is luxury afterall? For me, it is the finest aspects of one’s culture, distilled, packaged, presented to, and accepted by the rest of the world. For example, Italy has leather and coffee as some of the finest aspects of its culture, and that is evident with the luxury companies out of Italy. Same with Switzerland and watches. Africa was a bit late to the branded luxury game, but we are catching up. Aso-oke lets me contribute to this in a small way.
Are you expanding into other goods and services?
Yes. We now offer a personalization service that lets our clients customize a purchase with their name/initials/message embossed onto the leather. It is a nice way to personalize one’s Minku bag, or just to include a message that is a reminder of love or a feeder of good vibes.
In our latest collection, I introduce bracelets for men. Men’s bracelets have gained wide acceptance among males, from surfers in Cape Town to investment bankers in New Jersey. I personally buy into the idea of a man wearing a beaded bracelet — it tells a story of travel and daring, and it alludes to an open mind. So combining precious metals — 18kt gold, sterling silver — with powder glass beads hand-made by the Nupe people of Nigeria, I created a collection of men’s bracelets. Each bracelet comes in an Aso-Oke lined watersnake leather drawstring pouch of varying designs. The pouches double as key-chains.
You have been running Minku for three years now. How is it received?
Minku has been well received. Like any other entrepreneur, I have had some discouraging moments. But many good opportunities have also arisen, sometimes unexpectedly, and it is those that have helped Minku to grow. So I work hard on product and marketing, but I have also learned that serendipity is part of entrepreneurship.
Are there any specific experiences that shaped your resolve to be an entrepreneur?
My parents have been entrepreneurs for most of my life, so I had exposure to the idea of becoming one, quite early on. In 2010, I was accepted to Stanford University to study product design under the Stanford Mechanical Engineering Masters program. This was a dream come true for me because I love Formula 1 and I wanted to study how to design faster cars (I still do; I love working with constraints, and Formula 1 car design provides constraint sets that fascinate me). However, I had just moved to Barcelona less than a year earlier, and did not yet want to leave.
So I had a hard question to answer: if I didn’t go to Stanford, could I still do good design, at a level similar to if I was a Stanford Product Design grad? I was not sure, but I decided to try. I think a lot of the courage to set out and start Minku came from desperately wanting the answer to that question to be a ‘yes’.
What do you think about the luxury market in Africa?
I think there is a fast-growing market for African-made luxury goods in Africa. Building this market to last will take a paradigm shift as to why it’s as cool to own a leather bag designed by a Nigerian or Kenyan luxury house as it is to own one from an Italian powerhouse. But it also takes much product/service refinement on the part of African designers and manufacturers. Recently, African designers have been hitting the mark on product refinement, even with local production. This has been producing results, and needs to continue. International gatherings like the 2012 IHT Luxury Conference also help to focus on Africa’s capacity for luxury creation and consumption. I like the idea of Africa as a destination for handmade luxury.
As a person running a business, what are some skills or attributes that you have found to be indispensable?
As a person running a business, I have found that optimism has helped me get far. If you combine an optimistic disposition with research and hard work, you can do great things.
As a creator of quality leather goods, what are some skills or attributes that you have found to be indispensable?
The main skill for me is creativity. I will go meta and say that an indispensable skill has been knowing how to get myself into my best creative mode.
Where do you see Minku in 5 years?
I try not to plan ahead much, because there are too many factors beyond my control. At the moment, growth for Minku is centered on making the most desirable products I can conceive. I am working with unusual materials: Aso-oke from Nigeria, and leather. So there is already some novelty there, but I am interested in seeing just how much excitement I can wring out of people, both men and women, on the mundane topic of bags. So much of my current focus is on that.
I belong to the generation where the most successful social network was started out of a dorm room, so for me, having a small atelier for working and an online storefront has not been unusual, and I am lucky that this model has been well-received. In five years, I would love to have a flagship store for Minku, perhaps in Lagos or New York City.
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