Sara Berman (fashion designer)

Last updated

Sara Berman
Born1976 (age 46–47)
London, England
Education
Labels
  • Sara Berman
  • Berman Black

Sara Berman (born 1976) is a British fashion designer whose eponymous womenswear brand operated from 1998 until 2012, when she put the label on hold to focus on fine art. Producing clothing for London stores before she graduated and achieving success within a year of leaving fashion college, she won both New Generation (NewGeN) awards and a UK fashion export award.

Contents

The brand was known for its knits, quirky prints and tailored pieces. [1]

Early life and career

Sara Berman was born in 1976, the daughter of fashion designer Helene Berman. [2] She studied at Fine Arts College in Hampstead, and Central St Martins College of Art and Design. [3] While at St Martins she worked with Jasper Conran, Charles & Patricia Lester, and Armani, and, after she left, she worked for Maria Grachvogel. [3] [4] [5] Berman's graduate collection was taken up by Fenwicks. [4]

Establishment of eponymous label

Some sources place the launch of Sara Berman in 1999, but her label was first mentioned in The Times in 1998, which commented on Indian embroidered silk skirts available at Fenwicks. She was described then as: "a new British design talent". [6] [7] These first skirts had been created while Berman was still at design college and made from saris. Thanks to her mother's connections she managed to get them produced and they appeared in Joseph as well as Fenwicks. [8]

In 1999, her designs appeared in Fenwicks' Bond Street store window during London Fashion Week. [9] Examples from her collections – including sheepskin accessories, spotted cotton summer skirts and blouses and full silk skirts with net layering – appeared regularly in the fashion pages of The Times throughout this period. [10] [11] [12] The paper also noted that within a year of graduating, Berman had made it into the boutiques Mimi and Tokio, alongside Fenwick. [13]

Berman took advantage of her mother's contacts in building the company. [4] Her sister Amiee Berman joined as a business partner and co-designer, having herself studied at Central Saint Martins. [6] By 2002, Sara Berman had won the Marks and Spencer New Generation award three times, which was seen as an unusual achievement. [14]

In 2002, Berman featured – alongside Burberry, Paul Smith and Eley Kishimoto – in a feature about the direction of London designers. She was described as: "shaping up to be the thinking It girl's darling". [15] In a profile that year, she described how she had turned down a fashion job offer in Italy after realising the salary was in lira rather than sterling. She also revealed that she managed all stages of production of her garments and of fabric selection – having grown up visiting garment factories with her mother. [8] By 2003 The Guardian had listed Sara Berman as one of three women in the field of fashion to keep an eye on, noting that her designs were Liberty's second-highest seller and that she was often featured in Vogue magazine. [4]

In 2005 Sara Berman won the UK Fashion Export Award for designer womenswear. [16] [17] The label developed a range of lines for American brands Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. [6] High-profile wearers included Gwen Stefani and Zadie Smith. [6] By then, the label was being sold in 60 stores around the world. [1] This included trousers for a US department store and pieces for Harrods and Harvey Nichols. [18]

Launch of second label

By 2008 the Sara Berman brand had a second label, Berman Black, and Berman also acted as creative director of the cashmere brand N.Peal. [19] Berman also created ranges for Urban Outfitters and ASOS. [20]

In 2012, Berman withdrew from fashion design to focus on fine art. [21]

Art Career

In 2016, she graduated in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art, and her fashion influences have become clearer in her art practice. In a 2018 interview with Vanessa Murrell via DATEAGLE ART, she mentioned “I am endlessly fascinated by manufacturing and its relationship to a particular time, as well as concepts of luxury and of modernity. I am also a keen observer of people as consumers.” [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Karan</span> American fashion designer

Donna Karan, also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Claiborne</span> American fashion designer

Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne was an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Her success was built upon stylish yet affordable apparel for career women featuring colorfully tailored separates that could be mixed and matched. Claiborne is best known for co-founding Liz Claiborne Inc., which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500 list. Claiborne was the first woman to become chair and CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Shirin Guild is an Iranian-born British fashion designer. Her fashion label was established in London, in 1991. Her clothing design is minimalist and she has reworked Iranian clothing traditions through a "reductionist aesthetic". Her design work has been described as "trans-cultural".

Bonnie Cashin was an American fashion designer. Considered a pioneer in the design of American sportswear, she created innovative, uncomplicated clothing that catered to the modern, independent woman beginning in the post-war era through to her retirement from the fashion world in 1985.

Veronique Branquinho is a Belgian fashion designer of Portuguese ancestry who studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, from which she graduated in 1995. In 1997, she presented her first womenswear collection in Paris and in 1998 she founded her namesake brand Veronique Branquinho. She quickly rose to prominence in the international fashion scene and in 2003 she extended her brand with fall men's collection. In 2009, she decided to stop her label, as a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis, but she revived it three years later, in collaboration with Italian manufacturer Gibò. This was only a brief revival, as the brand was dicontinued again in 2017. Veronique Branquinho was based in Antwerp, while her runway shows took place in Paris, the last of which was shown in June 2017.

Elspeth Gibson is a British fashion designer, known for her feminine style of design. Her designs are often characterised by lace, beading and embroidery. Gibson was the British Fashion Council's New Generation Designer of the Year in 1998, and examples of her work are held in the design archive at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her clients have included Madonna, Zara Phillips, Cate Blanchett, Uma Thurman and Queen Rania of Jordan, for whom she has undertaken private commissions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comme des Garçons</span> Japanese fashion brand

Comme des Garçons is a Japanese fashion label based in Paris that was created and led by Rei Kawakubo. Its French flagship store is located in Paris. This label owns a world-wide store chain featuring various lines of products in major cities such as London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, New York City and in the Ginza district of Tokyo. Other than fashion, the label has expanded to include jewelry and perfume.

Sarah Jane Burton is an English fashion designer, currently creative director of fashion brand Alexander McQueen. She designed the wedding dress of Catherine Middleton for her wedding to Prince William in 2011. In 2012, she was named in Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Fogarty</span> American fashion designer

Anne Fogarty was an American fashion designer, active 1940–1980, who was noted for her understated, ladylike designs that were accessible to American women on a limited income. She started out as a model in New York in 1939, working for Harvey Berin on Seventh Avenue, before studying fashion design. She eventually secured a full-time design job in 1948, and became well-known for full-skirted designs with fitted bodices, inspired by Dior's New Look.

Wendy Dagworthy OBE is an English former fashion designer and now design academic. During her career she has led fashion design teaching at both the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins, mentoring notable fashion designers including Stella McCartney and Hussein Chalayan. An influential designer in her own right in the 1970s and '80s with the Wendy Dagworthy label, and one of the founders of London Fashion Week, she was described by the Daily Telegraph as: "the high priestess of British fashion".

Holly Fulton is a London-based fashion designer who set up her eponymous fashion label in 2009. Known for bold graphic and 3D motifs, innovative use of textiles and distinctive accessories, she has been described as the "queen of prints". She is a regular at London Fashion Week and has also appeared at Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Stirling Cooper was a London-based fashion wholesaler and retailer that, along with brands such as Biba, Quorum, Browns and Clobber, helped to redefine UK fashion in the late 1960s.

Maison Margiela, formerly Maison Martin Margiela, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens in 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal collections and ready-to-wear collections, with the former influencing the designs of the latter. Product lines include womenswear, menswear, fine jewelry, footwear, objects, fragrance, and home goods, among others. Known for deconstructive and avant-garde designs with unconventional materials, Maison Margiela has traditionally held live shows in unusual settings, for example empty metro stations and street corners. Models' faces are often obscured by fabric or long hair to direct attention to the clothes and design. Margiela resigned as creative designer in 2009 and John Galliano was appointed to the role in 2014.

Workers for Freedom was a British fashion label that was launched in 1985 by Graham Fraser and Richard Nott. The brand was awarded Designer of the Year in 1989 at the British Fashion Awards.

Sheilagh Brown is a British fashion designer who began her career in the 1960s, as part of the Swinging London scene. She was among the designers for Stirling Cooper, working subsequently at Coopers and Quorum, before establishing the label Barnett and Brown with Sheridan Barnett.

Brandon Maxwell is an American fashion designer, television personality, director, and photographer. He is the founder and creative director of Brandon Maxwell, the luxury women’s ready-to-wear label.

Simone Rocha is an Irish fashion designer. She is the daughter of fashion designer John Rocha, and trained at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and at Central Saint Martins, London. She launched her graduate collection in 2010 at the Tate Modern and in London Fashion Week. She was named Young Designer of the Year in 2014 by Harper's Bazaar, and Womenswear Designer of the Year 2016 at the British Fashion Awards.

Sonja Jocić is a Serbian fashion designer known for her origami shapes, draped layering, and androgynous silhouettes, as well as for creating sustainable fashion. Her work is described as having a Scandinavian minimalism that contrasts black and white tones, also playing "... at the border of clothing and sculpture."

FYODOR GOLAN is a fashion brand based in London. It was founded in 2011 by British designers Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman. The duo is known for their colourful advanced-contemporary ready-to-wear designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrienne Steckling-Coen</span> American fashion designer

Adrienne Steckling-Coen (1934-2006), known as Adri, was an American fashion designer whose label, Adri, was particularly successful in the 1970s-1980s.

References

  1. 1 2 Asome, Carolyn (12 September 2005). "Fashion Capital". The Times. No. 68490.
  2. ↑ Shaitly, Shahesta (15 August 2010). "Sara Berman: five things I know about style". The Observer. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Alumni: Sara Berman & Aimee Berman". Fine Arts College. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, Libby (30 September 2003). "50 women to watch: Top girls: part two". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Jarvis, Alice-Azania (26 April 2008). "The 5-minute Interview: Sara Berman, Fashion designer". The Independent. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Olins, Alice (22 June 2006). "Insider trading". The Times. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Objects of Desire". The Times. No. 66214. 29 May 1998.
  8. 1 2 Armstrong, Lisa (15 April 2002). "You can't fight the genes". The Times. No. 67425.
  9. ↑ "Diary". The Times. No. 66612. 6 September 1999.
  10. ↑ Armstrong, Lisa (3 January 2000). "Layering – the relaxed art of comfort dressing". The Times.
  11. ↑ Shilling, Jane (7 April 2000). "Time to go dotty". The Times.
  12. ↑ Armstrong, Lisa (2 October 2000). "Fashion Diary". The Times.
  13. ↑ "In Khaki". The Times. 8 May 2000.
  14. ↑ "MT's 35 Women under 35 2008: The List". Management Today. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  15. ↑ Armstrong, Lisa (18 February 2002). "Love it, loathe it, you can't be indifferent to London Fashion Week". The Times.
  16. ↑ Armstrong, Lisa (16 November 2005). "Fringes? Sweetie, they went out ten minutes ago". The Times. No. 68546.
  17. ↑ "Insider Trading". The Times. No. 68733. 22 June 2006.
  18. ↑ Armstrong, Lisa (21 September 2005). "Embrace the elan of the elite". The Times. No. 68498.
  19. ↑ "Berman sisters take the reins at N.Peal". Drapers Online. 11 August 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  20. ↑ McCormac, Pip (17 February 2008). "Sara Berman on why homemaking is better than clubbing". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  21. ↑ "Sara Berman Bio". Sara Berman. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  22. ↑ Murrell, Vanessa (7 February 2018). "Sara Berman on using the problem to find the solution". DATEAGLE ART. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.