International Emerging Designers of 2012

Giles AW12/13

Latticework and nylon jacquard patterns, bare-all peignoirs, turkish embroideries, animal prints. Fembot futurism, rebel glam, androgynous minimalism. Every year gets more curious in fashion. More global, more daring, more cross-cultural. And because of contemporary veterans (i.e. Lagerfeld, Simons, Muccia, Burton), the fashion bar continues to rise. But even our favorite legends know that the future of fashion relies heavily on the next generation of creativity. Catwalk Yourself recognizes 2012 as a big year for emerging designers from every degree of the globe.  And although the term ’emerging’ is subjective, we like to think of it like they have arrived and are well on their way into the future. In other words, Google anyone of them and it’s clear.

From Japan’s Mihara Yasuhiro to Britain’s Mary Katrantzou  and Italy’s Co|Te, our list of top emerging designers have all made names for themselves as creative influencers, natural connectors and the hardest working designer in the industry. They have each delivered contemporary allure that has captured the buzz of those in the business with the how, the where, and the way fashion goes down today. From Hermione De Paula’s impressionist prints turned kitsch, to the signature waistlines and shapes of Sweden’s Acne, to the eponymous textiles of Thailand’s Thakoon, Julia Heuse (Julia And Ben) German rebel glam, these designers are among the hundreds of riveting new talent, whom we recognize as big players this year.

Without further ado, we applaud the invention and the ambition in creative development from the following fashion designers of 2012, and turn to their energy for more adventure as we embark upon 2013.

UK

Hermione De Paula

Jonathan Saunders (AW12/13)

Mary Katrantzou (AW12/13)

Giles (AW12/13)

JAPAN

Mihara Yasuhiro

Junko Shimada (AW12/13)

ITALY

Co|Te

Ilarian Istri

Frankie Morello (AW12/13)

Sergei Grinko (AW12/13)

PORTUGAL

Ricardo Preto

GERMANY

Julia And Ben (SS12)

SWEDEN

Acne (AW12/13)

TURKEY

Issev Bahri

Dilek Hanif (AW11/12)

USA

Proezna Shouler (AW12/13)

Thakoon (AW12/13)

Jason Wu (AW12/13)