occupation: designer, costumer, and couturier

“My favorite thing about fashion is that fashion is a game. Think of the characteristics of a game and think of fashion. You can play pretend, play it real, make a move for cause and effect. It helps you learn as you play along (about yourself, about the past and about the future). And like some games, you must find partners to help you play along.” Domonique Echeverria

Six feet tall, “loud, Latin, and curvy,” Dominique is not afraid to embrace all of her. She is all passion and fearless in all of her incarnations of “Liza-inspired glitz,” whether by using sequins, fringe, and now buttons, exemplified by one of her newly designed all-button bustiers. Not short on a lineage of “hutzpah,” her mother once bought her a fur coat just to piss off PETA, and Dominque feels “she rules the world” in her Erte-inspired ruffled coat. I love her body-conscious floor-length black dress with the Prada pumps that she wears to the grocery store. In it, she is commanding and reminds me of her fascination with the black widow spider (who eats her mate), all “shiny and chic.” Shredded tights are Domonique’s torn jeans and tees, but made even more emboldened by the gypsy tattoo peeking through on her thigh.

To learn more about Domonique, go to the detailed credits page.

If you like Domonique, you might also enjoy Shea Daspin, Nikole Ramirez, or Contessa Stuto.

occupation: designer www.erikbergin.com

When you see Erik’s bedroom, modeled after a period room in a museum, it is pretty clear that leaving his suburban home in New Jersey was inevitable. His closet door is a red velvet curtain, a perfect cover to his costume-meets-art-meets-fashion aesthetic. Erik is a costume and fashion designer and it all began for him when he moved to Manhattan in 2004 and started to get dressed up and go out dancing. This is where he first began getting serious about making clothing, and Erik put a lot of effort into experimenting with every kind of material that he could, trying to break all of the rules before he even knew them. He put a book together, and from there got a job at a studio constructing mascots and large wearable foam costumes – today, he designs for Broadway. His love for the theater is obvious in his style, with pieces that are so dramatic and historical that Erik could be taken for a character in an opera when he is just walking down the streets of New York. Everything is a stand-out for me, but I am particularly obsessed with the Chariot Riders Coat from the 1800′s and the over-the-top and magnificent coat and scarf that are literally from the Met’s production of La Boheme. Erik’s fashion designs are made with the idea of helping people to express their true nature through their clothing. Genius to me is his making of indigenous masks to pair with a particular piece in order to enchance the meaning of that item of clothing. In one case, a bird’s face with an Aztec mythology becomes the foil to a gray flannel Eduardian-futuristic blazer. As always with Erik, everything is a stage.

Check out Erik’s Site