Auma A/W15

Showing at New York Fashion Week is no small feat. Besides the endless hours of brainstorming and then actually creating a collection, the production itself is an entirely different component. While no one really knows exactly how much it costs to show at NYFW, the short answer is… a lot. Somewhere to the tune of $200,000. For an emerging designer, this is virtually impossible and so emerges the chicken or the egg question. How do designers attract buyers and gain a following if they can’t show?

Thankfully there are events like Nolcha Fashion Week and Fashion Gallery Fashion Week specifically created for independent designers to showcase their collections. A platform of discovery for new talent, I had the pleasure of attending both, and will be sharing two of my favorites on the blog. First up…

Auma
Inspired by urban atmospheres, designer Gloria Auma hails from Norway. A relaxed yet contemporary line, I felt a nod to Alexander Wang in some of her pieces. Her creations use immaculate, clean lines and I believe she’s establishing herself as the go-to designer for not-so-basic, basics.

Auma designs for both men and women. There’s a subtle androgyny to their looks that made me fall in love with the menswear just as much as the womenswear – I believe you could absolutely interchange them and wear both. Also of note is her precision to mirroring that aesthetic on both sexes. Many of the other lines we saw were disjointed and deviated from their original purpose, but Auma keeps a tight grasp on what she set out to do. Keep your eye on Auma. I definitely think we’ll be seeing a lot more from this fantastic line in the future.

Photos by Matthew Passiglia