Designer Discussion: Erin Barr

Dear Pennies & Pens,

So a few weeks ago, I received my daily newsletter from one of my favorite blogs, Refinery29. In one of their latest posts, they profiled the 14 hottest emerging designers. After reviewing the list, I decided to feature some of the designers here on de la Pen. In essence, for this week’s “Designer Discussion”, we have NYC based designer, Erin Barr.

Erin Barr is a Wisconsin native, who began her career as a hair stylist and make-up artist. After graduating from the Aveda Institute, Erin moved to NYC where she’d been offered a job. While working for top salons and providing styling for editorial shoots, Erin realized she wanted to design. Erin then moved to London to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and after a year Erin moved back to NYC to complete her degree at Parson’s School of Design. After this, Erin interned at Alexander Wang and held a design assistant position at Cushnie et Ochs.

These days, Erin is calling the shots by designing her own namesake label. Now, in its third season, the Spring/Summer 2013 collection draws inspiration from a fictional collaboration between artist, Frank Stella and actress, Marilyn Monroe. In the late 1950s, Marilyn began refining her image while Frank’s art explored optic and labyrinth like shapes. In essence, combining these two entities for the Spring/Summer collection makes the clothes look rigid yet they have a soft feel. Basically, Erin gives womenswear a hint of tomboy.

As I am definitely a self proclaimed “girly tomboy”, I am ridiculously excited to see the collection at Erin’s upcoming New York Fashion Week show. The show takes place on September 7^th so please stay tuned for a review of the collection. Also please note, the photos are from the Fall/Winter 2012 collection.

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything.