Interview with Edgy, Up-and-Coming Designer Chelsea Sutrisno

I love it when I find out about new up and coming designer collections. Meet Chelsea Sutrisno. Her designs are a perfect balance of edge, sass & sophistication. She is an up-and-coming designer based in New York who has worked with BCBG Max Azria Group, Chanel and Gucci Group. She recently launched her new label, ChelseaSutrisno and I asked her some questions about her fabulous work and collection:

I read that you grew up in Indonesia, before moving to L.A. Did or does this culture influence your work?

I actually moved to L.A. when I was 11 years old so I don’t remember much that much of my childhood there. I feel like my collection is a blend between L.A. and New York. My NY side made me design silhouettes that are a little edgy with subtle details here and there but to complement that, I used a comfortable heavy knit fabric. I feel like LA exudes comfort.

It looks like (from your picture) that you added leather to the shoulders on one of your pieces – I love that! How did you decide on what materials you want to use for the collection?

I did use leather on the shoulders of one of the dresses. I thought about using patent leather but I ended up choosing the regular leather because it’s matted. As for the main fabric, I literally went to the fabric store, asked the guy for a thick wool/cotton blend in black and he gave me a couple choices. From there I just felt them to see which one has good stretchability and weight without making it look like a t shirt. I ended up choosing a fabric called ponte. It’s a double-knit interlock fabric that is very very durable and rarely wrinkles. What I like best about is, it has a little sheen to make it a little bit dressier than just a simple black cotton fabric.

I noticed that you really accented the back with cutouts, zippers, etc. – this is one of my favorite body parts. I think it’s incredibly sexy. Is this your signature? What was your inspiration for this emphasis on this body part?

I love the back! I think it makes the silhouette so much more interesting. It’s a simple front but when you turn around it’s a completely different look. I also don’t like to accent the front so much, as I think it’s much more tasteful to show the back. It’s more mysterious i think : )

How do you want your collection to be interpreted? Or what do you think your designs in this collection allude about the female body?

You will never fall out wearing any of my dresses. It’s very comfortable and with the thicker fabric, it hides things that you don’t want to show.

It’s one of those things that you can wear on a bad day and still look good and feel comfortable. I want the pieces to be a go-to piece.

I have to ask – what was it like working for Chanel?

To be honest with you, I wasn’t at Chanel for a very long time but I remembered that I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable wearing my highest heels and dresses because everyone dress beautifully. They also had THE best view of Central Park.

Do you find inspiration from any other designer?

As a designer, I think we all have experienced the hard time of finding new ideas & inspirations. The thing that helps me is finding a lot of things that I like. I take pictures when I walk around, rip out magazines, go on blogs etc.. At the end of the day, I saw that all the things that I ripped out and pictures I took were all similar and I knew that this was the inspiration that I want to base my collection of off.

Are you working on your next collection? Where do you get your inspirations from for each collection & do you have an “theme” for Spring 2011?

I haven’t started on my spring collection yet. I will probably start in a month or so. I’ve already started pulling things that I like, saving pictures that I see on the internet, details that I want to experiment with, but as of right now, I don’t really have a theme yet.

What do you think will be one of the biggest trends for fall?

I think you can’t go wrong with black for fall! But a trend that I spotted a lot on the runway was velvet. I’m not a big fan of velvet but maybe I’ll be wearing some before the season’s over!

What does fashion mean to you? (Question I ask everyone!)

Fashion should be fun. Wear what you like, if not, you’re not you anymore, you know? Sometimes people take it too seriously, they need to calm down.

Connect with Chelsea:

Chelsea’s site: www.chelseasutrisno.com

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/chelsea-sutrisno/108944855808418?ref=ts

The Well-Appointed Catwalk

April 22, 2010 | Permalink |

I love the fact that she is making dresses out of ponte! I feel like it’s typically a pants material, and it’s so perfectly stretchy and flattering at the same time. Actually, the ponte pants I owned are BCBG… interesting that she worked for the company.
pixelhazard

April 22, 2010 | Permalink |

very edgy cool. i’d love to see future lines
Laura Connell

April 26, 2010 | Permalink |

I agree–a bare back is the sexiest ever!

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