The Spring Summer 2008 Designers

NICOLE BRUNDAGE

It hasn't taken long for this American designer to make a name for herself - by impressing the fashion “system” with the characteristic twist – sexy/ironic, chaste/intellectual - that pervades her creations.
Of Texan origin, Nicole Brundage graduated in Arts and History at Stanford University in California and soon came to Italy, where she did a course in fashion design at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan.
In 2006 she entered for the "Who's on next" competition and was one of the three finalists in the "shoe design" category.
After working with a number of important fashion houses in Italy and New York, Nicole decided to settle in Milan, where in 2004 she started designing her own collections, characterized by a style she herself likes to call "understated sexy."

MARICO’ – Alice and Lisa Ferrari

Alice and Lisa Ferrari grew up playing with the loom, a fascinating old instrument on which their mother, Maria La Rosa, created unique fabrics. Play soon turned into passion and the two sisters, while still at high school, started to make their first coloured weaves. They pursued their studies, the one in industrial design at the Politecnico, the other in foreign languages and literature at the Università Cattolica, both in Milan, but it was only after graduating and touring Australia that they decided to dedicate themselves to the family business.
Long periods spent in southern Italy (mainly Puglia and Sicily where their parent were born) strengthened the sense of colour and textile tradition that makes their creations so unique.
In July 2007 they took part in the "Who's on next" competition and were immediately noticed for their freshly colourful style, drawing on the infinite potential of the ancient art of weaving.

MAX KIBARDIN

Max Kibardin was born in Siberia in 1976 and grew up in a family of shoemakers.
He studied architecture in Moscow, where he developed a keen sense of structure and design which can be seen, tempered with elegance and femininity, in all in his creations.
After a brief spell in Paris, he moved to Milan to work with major names in the world of fashion and accessories. In 2004, still in Milan, he started designing his own collections.
In 2006 he entered for the "Who's on next" competition and was one of the three finalists in the "shoe design" category.
Max Kibardin bases his work on the principle of objectivity. The design of a shoe starts with its shape; then come the colour and materials. For him, it’s only when the design is finished that a small work of art can begin to grow.