A new wave of labels are mixing things up on the step-and-repeat.
The way we talk about the red carpet has changed. Even in the past few years, the questions we ask, the people who grab our attention and, certainly, the designers we see represented are quite different than what they might have once been.
Engel says she sought out to position Markarian differently than she might have another brand because she felt it "could actually get even more press by being a celebrity brand." And, essentially, that's how its story began. GalvanGalvan's mission hasn't changed from what it was back in 2014, when the brand made its debut. "We were personally frustrated with the evening wear that was out there. I think there were certain things that we saw as just problematic that we want to solve — namely that evening wear tended to be and still often tends to be very formal, very embellished," says co-founder Katherine Holmgren.
This early support opened doors for the brand not just in terms of global recognition, but also in making their case to potential buyers, according to Holmgren. "Granted, we launched with a lot of wholesale partners across the world, but still, being able to have a celebrity like Rihanna all over the press wearing our jumpsuit meant that we were able to grow our brand awareness so much more quickly with the customers," she says.
AzeezaAzeeza has always done things a little differently. Designer Azeeza Khan founded the label in 2012 in Chicago, where it's still based. It did direct-to-consumer first; a retail partner came a few years down the line. It didn't actively chase celebrity credits — some of the placements it got early on, Kahn says, were organic, from A-listers finding and shopping the pieces at places like Barneys New York.
"I just really learned and understood what consumers were reacting to and where my personal taste was evolving to," she says. "I think, as a young designer, it's really important to play and experiment and try things. Some may work and [some won't.] I really chased what worked. And I built upon that, brick by brick."
The Streisand stamp of approval got Azeeza a lot more eyeballs and a feature in Vogue. And though she's always taken a customer-first approach, Khan recognizes the impact having a celebrity angle can have on your brand. "We've been in business since 2012. We've never been in Vogue unless somebody was wearing it," she says. "This is the first year that I had a Vogue feature — not only that, but I've been [mentioned] in Vogue five times.
Cong Tri's focus on eveningwear, the designer explains, stems from his desire "to help women shine in their significant and special moments," from celebrities on the red carpet to everyday customers. Cong Tri has also worked with celebrity stylist Kate Young on his New York Fashion Week shows, which he did for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 seasons. "I have designed costumes for celebrities in Vietnam for many years, so I understand what the job is like, but working with Kate in an international environment has given me many new experiences. Everything must be professional, the workload is expanded and the requirement and standards are more diversified.
"Red carpet is one of the big things in my life," Rembert says. "I really enjoyed when I would see women in these gowns — the fitting with my client, it being altered, seeing them actually come alive with the clients, the client actually hitting the red carpet. So I knew, with making a clothing line, I wanted something that could live in that space."
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