Darling Designer Profile: Karelle Levy, Fashion Designer

It was a truly great Darling afternoon meeting designer Karelle Levy and checking out her KRELwear studio in Miami! Yarn from floor almost to the ceiling, surrounded by racks of lovely, shimmering KREL designs everywhere. Karelle Levy knits her own fabrics, finding inspiration in the inherent beauty and formal aspects of the process. Levy has developed garments by reconfiguring what she calls “toobular” fashion, using few or no seams in her knitting technique. This makes her garments interchangeable and convertible; a single piece can be worn as a sleeveless top, or a skirt, and they all reflect her independent, no rules ethic, “Living garments, embracing flaws – let it run.”

SD: How did you end up in the fashion industry?
KREL: In college, I took a knit machine technique class and got really into it. So when I graduated I bought myself a knitting machine so that I could continue knitting. I haven’t stopped since. I accumulated so many pieces that I started doing performance art with the pieces I made, which were sometimes more creative than wearable. Soon after I had so many pieces that I started selling them.

SD: When and how did you know you would choose this path?
KREL: Once I started to sell them, and people were interested in purchasing them, I wanted to concentrate on making and selling clothes. I traveled to LA and New York in search of boutiques that would be able to carry such items and was basically selling straight from my suitcase.

SD: Where did you go to school and what did you study?
KREL: I went to Rhode Island School of Design and studied Textile Design

SD: What was your first job in the industry?
KREL: I worked in boutiques but never for any fashion design industry. I’ve been learning the business since I started selling.

SD: What is your design process?
KREL: My assistants and I knit more than we draw. We make a lot of test garments and then turn them into actual samples. We make the specs for them after we’ve decided it is a good garment for production.

SD: Describe your philosophy behind your designs?
KREL: By creating geometric shapes combined with little construction detail, I design eco-knit fabrics that mold around the body to make innovative clothes.

SD: What does your average day entail?
KREL: Factory visits, meetings with potential buyers, lots of emailing, yarnbuying, yarn researching.

SD: If you knew then (before you entered the industry) what you know now, what would you do differently?
KREL: I would have moved to New York once I got divorced and tried to work for the industry getting connections that I try to make now.

SD: In your opinion what is the best and worst current fashion trend?
KREL: I tend not to pay much attention I like what I like.

SD: What do you think the hardest aspect of your industry is?
KREL: Getting recognition that pays off in sales.

SD: Do you have any events you are getting ready for in the near future? If so tell us a little about it. KREL: I just did the Style Wars competition in NYC and won!

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/nyregion/12fashion.html