Lucy Hale, Rashida Jones and Liv Tyler have all rocked pieces by Tanya Taylor.
The Toronto native scored a finalist spot in this year’s star-making CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition and already counts stylish boldface names like Liv Tyler and Rashida Jones among her fans.
Oh right, and the first lady, who rocked two flawless looks from the eponymous label this summer.
It all might seem like a jealousy-making feat coming from a 28-year-old who launched her company just three years ago and whose first collection was fall 2012.
Michelle Obama in a Tanya Taylor
“I like people who don’t take themselves too seriously,” says Taylor, who lives in the West Village and designs and produces her line in New York City. “I want our clothes to be worn joyfully.”
And joy — or maybe closer to blissed-out amazement — was the general feeling when Taylor first saw Michelle Obama wear her rainbow scroll cocktail dress from the spring 2014 collection at a naturalization ceremony in June.
“There was lots of screaming,” she says. “So many hours had gone into the [CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund] application, and this was the best reward ever.”
For this season’s collection, which is available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Taylor plays up preppyfemme patterns that range from hand-drawn spots to perfect polka dots, throwback florals to this-minute graphic stripes in swingy skirts, sublime cigarette pants, panel shift dresses, textured sweaters and trenches so impeccably tailored you’ll want to wear them as stand-alone frocks.
Accessories in the form of rabbit feet, sexy fur collars and kittenish powder puff bags lead the clothes toward seduction.
Taken altogether, it’s as though Taylor collaborated first with Jackie Kennedy but then invited Marilyn Monroe to add the punctuation marks.
She managed to pull off her spring 2015 runway show Sept. 5, right in the middle of the schedule-defying challenges the Fashion Fund demands.
“It trains you to be so fast. It is terrifying and thrilling,” Taylor says. “We have no idea what we’re going to do after November when we have more time again.”
Somehow we think she’ll come up with something pretty cool.
http://nypost.com/2014/09/10/designer-tanya-taylor-is-making-a-major-fashion-statement/