Famous for showcasing up-and-coming designer talent, Gen Art’s fashion events are remarkable for keeping an accurate pulse on "the next big thing." For six-plus years fashion director, Lee Trimble has been the figure responsible for making it all happen, whether discovering the next labels for their Fresh Faces show, narrowing down who counts as the New Garde or creating the shopping event of the season. We caught up with Trimble—whose scouting eye launched the careers of Zac Posen, Rodarte, Philip Lim and Duckie Brown—as she prepares for the largest Shop NYC next Wednesday.
How long have you been doing the Shop NYC event?
I started the event in Los Angeles in 2002. We started there just to give the designers the opportunity to sell the items, make money and give the people that were coming to the runway shows a chance to buy the designers' collections because they didn’t know where to find them. Now we do them in all the cities—New York, Miami, Chicago, L.A. and San Francisco.
Are there any labels you’re going to buy at this Shop NYC?
There is this really great line called Bijules. It’s an accessory line [that] is a little bit avant-garde, but is really fun. We have Thea Grant, which is a really fantastic accessory line that I love. There is a really great line called Margaritasaplala that I am actually wearing today. She does a lot of really great jersey dresses [that are] super easy to wear with painterly prints on them. There is another line called Richard Ruiz. He is going to be on that TV show Stylista. He was one of the featured designers when the challenge was for the stylists to do a runway show.
Do you watch "Project Runway"?
I do! We actually do the casting of "Project Runway." We run the open calls so they actually bring us on to bring in designer candidates to be on the show and we sit on the first judging panel for the show.
So you have met all the contestants?
Pretty much. A lot of Gen Art alumni have ended up as winners or first-runners up, like Jay McCarroll, Jeffrey Sebelius, Rami Kashou.
Have you ever witnessed any fights over clothes at Shop NYC?
Not usually. Overall the sale is set up to be very civilized. But I have seen pretty harried designers because it can get really busy in the early evening.
Describe the shoppers who attend the show.
It’s a very stylish female crowd, but we also have menswear available and a lot of guys do come.
Since Gen Art’s focus is on such emerging talent, it must be hard to decide what new designers make the cut.
It is, but strangely it’s not. A lot of designers really stand out. We obviously look at things like construction and how relevant what they are doing is in way of trends, but we also talk to them about their businesses and how their sales are doing, where they’re selling [and] how ready they are basically to make a profit [and handle] a large degree of exposure. So, there’s a number of factors, but the more designers we see, the more the really good ones stand out.
You must have some personal favorites.
There is a designer called Bruno Grizzo. The clothing he does is really elegant and really sophisticated. It reminds me a bit of Calvin Klein. [The clothes are] streamlined, but with sharp and sophisticated details and just beautiful fabrics in a lot neutrals. There is another designer we showed recently from out of the U.K where she just won TopShop NewGen. Her name is Hannah Marshall. Her aesthetic is very dark with a lot of black, a lot of leather. It’s very Grace Jones.
Where do you shop in the city?
I really love Dernier Cri. It’s in the Meatpacking District and it means “latest things.” They have a lot of international and emerging designers that are doing really great things. The buyer has a really great eye for interesting and fun lines, but she’ll carry these new lines like Pepper and Crystal and Chrishabana next to Vivienne Westwood and Rick Owens. I like that she has this balance, but the overall aesthetic is really solid. I also really like Oak and Honey in the Rough.
Does Gen Art have any future fashion programs that you’ll be debuting?
Yes, but I can’t discuss it all. We are talking to a TV show about having them film a documentary featuring our Fresh Faces in Fashion show in September. They’re basically filming the designers and getting the inside scoop on how designers go from conception to reality. I love behind the scenes anything, so it will be really cool for the designers to get that exposure and for people to see what it takes for a new designer to get ready for a show.
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