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40 under 40, NY Rising Stars
http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2010/10178
The day that Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, Christian Siriano had meetings scheduled with buyers from various retailers. They all canceled.
The sassy young designer, who had just shown his first solo collection during Fashion Week, knew he needed to be more than a runway wonder to succeed in the era of the great recession. He quickly diversified, taking on design collaboration projects—creating a phone and accessories for LG Electronics, a cosmetics collection for Victoria's Secret and a line of low-priced shoes for Payless ShoeSource.
"I did these projects because I knew I'd be able to have funding," Mr. Siriano says. "After runway, people forget so quickly."
Last spring, when retailers gained the confidence to start buying again, Mr. Siriano's upscale line of cocktail frocks and red-carpet-worthy dresses was picked up by Saks Fifth Avenue. Neiman Marcus later signed on. Revenues for Mr. Siriano's company have jumped more than 75% since 2008, to nearly $1.2 million, and he expects a 40% increase this year.
The native of Annapolis, Md., who two years ago became the youngest-ever Project Runway winner, got his first taste of fashion at the age of 15 when he designed costumes for Bubbles Hair Salon's annual hairstyling competition. Mr. Siriano is now sharing his expertise: A one-hour documentary about how he made it in fashion design is scheduled to air next month on Bravo.
The young designer's success comes as no surprise to Project Runway's Tim Gunn, who says he realized within 30 seconds of meeting Mr. Siriano that he was special.
"In 29 years of teaching, I had never met a design prodigy until I met Christian," Mr. Gunn says.
– Adrianne Pasquarelli
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