SABA

SABA has had a powerful influence on the Australian fashion scene since 1965. Starting in Melbourne's Flinders Lane as The Joseph SABA Shirt Shop, the company has remained at the forefront of Australian fashion ever since, and is now seen as a chic, contemporary label for both women and men. In 1996 SABA took part in the very first Mercedes Australian Fashion Week (MAFW). Front lining the show and showcasing their Spring Summer collection, MAFW defined SABA as the leading Australian fashion label of the time. Also in 1996 the company won the Australian Fashion Menswear Award and was inducted as the Powerhouse Museum's Fashion House of the Year. SABA became a favourite at L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) when they premiered their first solo show at Melbourne's Federation Square in 2005. SABA's appeal stems from styling that is both sophisticated and contemporary. Part of SABA's uniqueness lies in its ability to integrate elegant silhouettes with beautiful fabrics. The design philosophy is coupled with a passion for quality - every design must also be enduring, comfortable and versatile. For SABA these are the hallmarks of great design. Saba was acquired by the Apparel Group in July 2005 and moved its Head Office to Sydney shortly after. A leader in the Australian fashion industry, Apparel Group designs and manages its brands in Australia with strong manufacturing relationships in Asia.

Sebastian Errazuriz

Chilean born, New York based artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz seeks to create works that can remind people of their mortality, invite them to look again at their lives and cuestion at their daily routines. His obsession with the dichotomies of life and death are present in his sculptures, public art works, consumer objects, furniture and even fashion. Selected one of the top emerging designers by I.D magazine, he has also been chosen Chilean Designer of the Year, and received multiple awards by design competitions, and the international media. His large scale avant-garde public artwork has received critical acclaim. His unique pieces have been incorporated in over 40 exhibitions including Tokyo, New York, Paris and Barcelona. His portrait on multiple magazine covers and hundred of articles showcasing his work, illustrate the interest of the critics and media which follow closely every one of his new projects. Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in London, Sebastian followed art courses in Washington and film courses in Edinburgh, Design in Santiago and later received an MFA at New York University. At age 28, Sebastian and the Campana’s were the only living South Americans to be auctioned at Sotheby’s Important 20th Century Designs. His design work currently forms part of several international private collections. Based in New York and with offices and workshops in Santiago; as an artist Sebastian is currently preparing public urban art installations for New York, Madrid and Santiago. As a designer, he is creating products for clients ranging from the design shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York to private commissions and interiors. Faculty member and university teacher Sebastian has regularly participated with personal editorial columns in newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Studio Makkink & Bey

Studio Makkink & Bey is led by architect Rianne Makkink and designer Jurgen Bey. Supported by a design team, they have been operating their design practice since 2002.
Studio Makkink & Bey investigates the various domains of applied art while studying the tension between the private and public domain. Taking a critical stance towards the designing of public space, architecture, interiors, exhibitions and products is pivotal.

Studio Makkink & Bey is located in an old industrial building enabling the entire production to come about on site.
The design team operates as one entity and includes experts of various disciplines ranging from fashion, design and architecture. The cross-wiring between the different areas of expertise prompts new insights and perspectives, which are used within each stage of the design process. Stories, study and research are in constant movement throughout the design process, to be converted into solutions for a perpetually changing environment.

The goal of Studio Makkink & Bey is to entice a new design culture by showing new alternatives through critical design. Analytical design is a fundament for a new culture in a city, public building or house.

Initially, all existing forces are reviewed to be defined again and reshuffled into a fitting design narrative. Experiment, doubt and a hodgepodge way of thinking are crucial to disclose hidden values and stories. This new potential unlocks all the possible qualities to constitute new cultural bearers.

The design process itself is elevated as a final product. The product continually adjusts itself to its current situation to be slotted into its designed context. All available expertise is used, such as a caring member of the community or a skilled craftsman. The result is a pertinent answer to the questions that lay hidden within every project.

One single product can progress into a project of a larger scale, motivating its own setting. In reverse, a project on the scale of architecture or urban planning can equally spawn a series of products which become the bearers of that context. This movement of zooming in and zooming out marks the interaction between the domain of architecture and urban design and the domain of products. Urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture are indissolubly bound to product design. ‘Did the invention of the elevator give rise to the skyscraper or did the high-rise buildings dictate its existence?’

Sonia Rykiel

Ethnically a Polish Jew, Sonia Rykiel was born in Paris, France in 1930.
At the age of 17, Sonia was employed to dress the window displays in a Parisian textile store. Sonia Rykiel was married to the owner of a boutique which sold elegant clothing. In 1962 she just couldn't find any soft sweaters to wear when she was pregnant. So she used a supplier to her husband from Venice to design her own.
Sonia Rykiel created her first maternity dresses and tiny sweater. The sweater is her symbol and she was crowned "Queen of Knits" by the Americans in 1967. The sweater went back 7 times for alterations before she was satisfied with it.
From then, Sonia Rykiel has experimented with seams inside out, took away the hem and lining, and created a range of fragrances of which '7e Sens' was the first. This first creation was called the Poor boy Sweater, and she started selling it from her husbands label "Laura". It made the cover of ELLE fashion magazine, and brought her fame.
Sonia Rykiel later became the first designer to put seams on the outside of a garment, and to print words on her sweaters. In particular, she favours long clinging sweaters or small cropped pullovers, large rolled-back cuffs and long shawls.
Sonia Rykiel colours are usually beige, grey, dark blue and charcoal.
Rykiel has written many books, including an A to Z of fashion, and a collection of children’s stories. In 1980 she was voted one of the world's 10 most elegant women. She proved that knitwear can follow any trend.
Sonia Rykiel also hit the current idea of the big soft fun fur done as a huge bubble of colour, in her case baby pink, purple knitted fox or teal-blue Mongolian lamb. During Paris Fashion Week in October 2003, Sonia Rykiel showed her own collection for next spring.
There were also gorgeous ruffled dresses in vintage floral and polka dot prints and smart hounds tooth coats. Sonia and her daughter Nathalie have decided to bring Paris to New York. In February 2005 Henri Bendel launched an in-store shop for the Sonia Rykiel Woman line.
It will almost certainly be as successful as in France.
There are three Sonia Rykiel boutiques in the U.S. and they are in Boston, New York and Guam. Rykiel collaborated with impresario and performer Malcolm McLaren on the song "Who the Hell is Sonia Rykiel?" on McLaren's 1995 album Paris.
Sonia Rykiel website

Stella McCartney

Stella Nina McCartney was born in London, England in 1971 to ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and famed rocker photographer, Linda McCartney.
Stella McCartney's birth almost ended in disaster where both mother and child almost died - the traumatic event led her father to pray she be born "on the wings of an angel", thus inspiring the name of her parent's band "Wings".
Stella McCartney admits she had a "normal" childhood, despite her famous parents - though she did travel the globe with them and their group, the whole family lived in a two-bedroom while she was growing up. Stella McCartney was on her own and independent by the time she was in college, making her own money (and sometimes having to clean dishes at a near-by restaurant to do so.)
At age 15 Stella McCartney had the opportunity to work with Christian Lacroix on his first couture collection and in 1995, she graduated from London's Central St Martins College of Art & Design, showcasing at her collection of clothes modeled by good celebrity friends Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss.
In 1997, with two collections under her belt, Stella McCartney was appointed chief designer at Paris fashion house Chloé, but resigned four years later to enter in a joint venture with the Gucci Group.
The line opened three stores and later Stella McCartney expanded her brand to include perfume. In 2000, she was presented VH1/Vogue Designer of the Year award by her father. Most recently, Stella McCartney designed a line of clothing and accessories for H&M, helping sales to skyrocket with her designer name and in August of 2003, married publisher Alasdhair Willis.
Stella McCartney website