On Saturday, April 29th I attended the Fashion Designers & Craft Maker’s Collections Presentation in Aide of Angelman Syndrome. This event took place at the swanky Paul Hotel down in New York City and it was an amazing event that showcased exciting young designers as well as international designers. Creatives, photographers, models, designers, artists, bloggers and craft makers all gathered under one roof to witness creativity as well as network, form connections and build bridges for future collaborations.

The Fashion Designers & Craft Makers’ Network also presented an award to the winner of the the young designer competition. Each competitor was tasked with designing an innovative, fashion forward, avant-garde design that was reminiscent of the 1920s. The winner of the competition this year was Kyle Denman who is a Project Runway alumni. He was presented with a cash prize as well as an opportunity to showcase his design in London.

At the event I was able to chat with Kyle Denman about his inspiration, past work, as well as his next moves.

What was your inspiration behind your 1920’s piece?

“When I was asked to participate in the young designers awards, I was told that the theme was the 1920’s but I had to make it red carpet ready, modern, and most importantly cutting edge, out of the box, avant-garde.” He said. “So I thought, how do I make sure it’s different enough to stand out but it’s beautiful enough to make an impact so I thought what was really relevant in the 1920’s. I was thinking of the Great Gatsby but I was also thinking of the other things that were going on… The Great Depression, The Prohibition, what was so relevant was champagne. You see in that time frame, that decade, the really unique juxtaposition of cultural, socio-economic, and political dynamics and my former backgrounds is actually in politics so I thought it would be really cool to bring that to the forefront.

Do you usually get your inspiration from politics and history or do you also find inspiration elsewhere?

“No, I usually get my inspiration from stories or concept.” He said. “So, my last collection was actually based off of the life cycle of an orchid in relationship to the life cycle of humanity. So, [with] people our purest moment is when we are born as humans and then as we grow up that is when we lose that purity but then I thought why can’t we see purity in our lived experiences. The orchid actually starts as a pale pink but then grows to be a pure white. So, in essence it is a living paradox just like people.”

Looking back, when did you decide that you wanted to do fashion design?

“Yeah so, it was when I was actually still in politics [in school], I was conducting research on people who have alzheimer’s and dementia in Japan and I was teaching them art class in order to see the art’s effectiveness on them, their psyche, and their interpersonal relations etcetera and I realized art has the most beautiful ability to transcend and transform a person’s life so I knew that I had to do something like that for the rest of my life and what is one type of art that exists in every person’s life on a daily basis, fashion. So I literally packed a suitcase and a backpack and flew across the country to Los Angeles and started my journey.”

What is next for you?

“I’ve recently had an offer to show in June in Los Angeles…and then I have a fashion show lined up with Caitlin Fashion Show in Los Angeles in the Fall and then a fashion show of my own in April of next year then I know for sure in Palm Springs the following year.”

Comment down below if you enjoyed this interview and have followed Kyle Denman’s work in the past!