Thursday Emerging Designers

Amy Breen's first original design (when she was nine) was a neon striped bathing suit. She grew up in Philadelphia where she was influenced by street style and graduated from Moore College of Art and Design with a BFA in Fashion Design and Textiles. She spent a semester at Parsons Paris, spent time working in New York for Nanette Lepore, and traveled to Australia for designer Aurelio Costarella. Amy moved to Nashville and launched amy.b. design as a harmonious mix of comfort and style.
Visit AMY.B. website

After touring the world with garage rock bank, the Ettes, designer Maria Silver set out to create a chic and travel friendly collection for women. Silver is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and has worked for the prestigious costume design house, Carelli Costumes. She has also worked on Broadway shows including Mama Mia, 42nd Street, Gypsy, Jesus Christ Superstar and Flower Drum Song.
Visit Black by Maria Silver website

Nashville native Truly Alvarenga’s collection concentrates on edgy designs with intricate layers of detail, and her work ranges from radical rock and roll to youthful Harajuku. She recently interned with Anna Sui and currently divides her time between her studio and workshop in Hanover, N.H. and her design base in Nashville.
Visit Pink Elephants Designs website

Abigail Franklin and Kyah Hillis have joined forces to launch Trunk, an alternative retail space. Trunk is the first mobile fashion and accessories boutique in the Southeast and one of the first in the country. Franklin owns the men’s fashion collection State, and Hillis owns Sleeveless, a premium accessory brand that specializes in leather goods for women.
Visit The Trunk website

Jessica Jones attended O'More College of Design and received the Distinguished Designer awards for both her junior and senior collections at O'More's annual fashion show. She created her brand Tuft with a focus on pairing laid back sensibility with classic silhouettes in bright hues and bold patterns. In presenting her collection, she thanks Beth Gilmore, artist and owner of Twist art gallery, for her screen printed illustrations Jones is using on some of her fabrics; House of Stella for accessories; and stylist Aria Cavaleire for selecting shoes and helping to style the line.
Visit Tuft website

Nashvillian Brittany Blair is an apparel design graduate from the University of Alabama. She interned in New York with designer Catherine Malandrino, showed her first full collection for the Fall 2010 fashion show at the University of Alabama, and participated in the first annual Birmingham Fashion Week. Blair now lives in Nashville and is opening a combined upscale restaurant/boutique called Kocktails & Kouture in the Gulch, slated to open later this year.
Visit Brittany Blair website

Julianna Bass is the first recipient of the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund award, made possible with the proceeds from Lexus Nashville Fashion Week. Bass was born in Pulaski, attended Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, and launched her eponymous collection in 2008 after studies at The Fashion Institute of Technology. She has had the privilege of working under prestigious names, such as Marc Jacobs, Eugenia Kim, and Elie Tahari. She presented her collection at Nashville Fashion Week 2011 and photographed her Spring/Summer 2011 lookbook in her hometown. Julianna has received numerous accolades from both U.S. and International publications including WWD, German Vogue, New York Magazine, Lucky, and Daily Candy, among others. Her designs have been featured on the red carpet, as well as on Gossip Girl. Bass currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Visit Julianna Bass website