Hannah Marshall

“I have realized the great power that clothes really do have to transform you, not only the way that you feel but also the way you are perceived… It’s not just dressing for other people, it’s dressing for yourself.” Hannah Marshall

occupation: fashion designer

Hannah has a quiet strength, that is conveyed in her love of all black (“black demands respect”) and the powerful shapes that define her as a forceful visionary. The blazers, often with herculean shoulders, the ring (a collaboration with Hannah Martin), that could pass as a weapon, the bionic Raphael Young boots, with mirrored heels and wings, and most potent, her architecturally shaped eyebrows and blunt cut hair, says super woman 2010. Hannah commutes for two hours everyday from her hometown in the countryside of Essex, to her studio in London, which keeps her grounded in the ultra…

Cristina Cucca

occupation: designer

Angela, our Milan correspondant, said that Cristina’s love of the clean and linear comes from her experience of living in Berlin, which has been the capital of “rational aesthetics” since Walter Gropius of the Bauhaus. In fact, her love of shapes can be seen in her designs, where she creates conceptually conceived geometric pieces that allow a person’s personality to form the garment, rather than the garment forming them. For Cristina, it’s all about discovery, whether it’s finding fifteen different ways to drape a rectangle or digging through a pile of clothes at a psychiatric hospital, one of her favorite places to hunt (at one point in her video, Cristina points out how this institution uses the exercise of uncovering old clothes as a way of escaping their reality). I love how Cristina rolls up a pencil skirt and belts it,…

Olivia Weeden

occupation: student

“I’ll be getting dressed to go out somewhere and I’ll get dressed three times. Then finally, I’ll just take everything off, make a big slit up the back, turn it upside down, safety pin it, and walk out the door feeling perfect.” Olivia Weeden

I love how Olivia’s entire wardrobe changed when she bought a motorcycle to travel on in the City. She went from floral dresses to layers of drapery, hooded sweaters, and leather. Her ingenuity takes her as far as to take a blanket that she found from Eastern Europe and turn it into a strapless dress to stay warm, and to turn an antique scissor into a necklace, in case of emergency. In fact, her accessories seem to be both time-honored and utilitarian, like the camera bag she uses as a purse. However, practicality doesn’t always rule. Despite Olivia’s recent obsession with shades of…

Lauren Boyle

occupation: editor of upcoming DIS magazine

“I think that what makes our generation kind of special or new is how we appreciate the lowest, you know, trashiest stuff and the most refined things and one is not better than the other, they are all sort of on the same level. Its just up to your interpretation and your usage.” Lauren Boyle

When I asked Lauren what happens if she goes out and doesn’t feel herself on a given day, her response was, “Maybe I should try it. That could be really fun. Just go out absolutely not me at all.” So uncontrived and confident in who she is, there is no armor when exploring Lauren and her style. She is who she is, low or high end, it’s all interesting, and it makes her energy and ideas so fresh in the most explosive yet natural way. For example, she…

Crayon Lee

occupation: founder and creative director of Studio11, and creative director of Kang Kiok, her mother’s clothing line

“I don’t do whatever is popular, with the top, bottom, shoes, and the bag, all matching with a Starbucks coffee.” Crayon Lee

One of the thousands of things that is so fascinating about interviewing the range and diversity of talent on this site is seeing the juxtaposition of someone like Crayon, who sees fashion as “real” and not a fantasy, with Miranda on the previous post, who finds it all about dreaming and imagining. Crayon has a quiet chic that makes a huge but understated impact. Her black uniform of leggings and a turtleneck, topped with a simple but forceful piece, porcelain skin, angular hair, and absence of jewelry and makeup, is strikingly clean and uncomplicated and reflects how honest and direct she is. Crayon…