Zero + Maria Cornejo fuses a punk vibe with tailored appeal for Fall/Winter 2012.

Zero+Maria Cornejo’s Fall/Winter 2012 runway show at Milk Studios drew a star-studded crowd including the likes of jewelry designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia and model and actress Shalom Harlow. The Chilean-born designer’s collection harbored shapes, textures, and hues to inspire cozy hibernatory thoughts, yet blasts of citrusy neon, brilliant cobalts, and vivid lavender and turquoise silks revealed its nonchalant fierce edge. Consciously choosing not to use fur, Cornejo integrated llama, shearlings, merino wools, and alpaca to fill the void. The addition of bamboos and silks gave the collection a lovely and exceptionally feminine flow.

Now an American citizen, Maria Cornejo built this collection upon nostalgic thoughts of the past and reimaginings of the meaning of identity. Cornejo says, “I always find myself pulling from my past to create the future.”

Inspirations rooted in everyday occurrences bring further life to Cornejo’s curious digital prints. Ranging from an iPhone photo of a graphic still, a silent movie pixelated onto silk, to Cornejo’s son’s reflection in a Hydra swimming pool evolved into an evil eye print to protect and bring good energy. The creative process behind Zero+Maria Cornejo is profoundly distinct.

In contrast to Cornejo’s digital prints and modern lines, she concurrently infused the collection with natural, grounded pieces: hand knits from a women’s cooperative in Bolivia, superfine Suri alpaca coats, and bamboo knit basics to remind us of the core necessities and their connection to the earth.

Cornejo’s juxtaposition of modern and classic, innovative and traditional, as well as comfort and chic breathes fresh air into the upcoming autumn season for womenswear. Via this collection, Zero+Maria Cornejo has awakened the feminine within, while maintaining comfort and ease rooted in a peaceful balance between opposing aesthetics.

Photographs by Monica Feudi/Courtesy of Zero + Maria Cornejo

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The line for the CFDA and Lexus sponsored Eco-Fashion Challenge event in New York City, wrapped around the building and continued down the block. If that is any indicator of what is to come (which I fully believe it is) sustainable fashion got a major boost from this eco-fashion integration challenge!

“Designing a Lexus is a complicated and sophisticated process that requires putting many pieces together, and the same is true of fashion,” stated Loomstate designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn. “Step by step we are learning a new language for sustainable and eco awareness and bringing it into the fashion story.”

(Marcia Patmos of Leroy & Perry)

Inside a packed skyline loft, floor to ceiling posters presented the various designers in the running for the CFDA and Lexus package which includes $25,000 towards their next line as well as support for their Fall 2011 show or presentation during New York Fashion Week in February.  Words like organic, air dyed, recycled, handmade, fair, local, upcycled, and sustainable lined the posters and defined the designers’ eco-focus. This must be the new language Mackinlay Hahn speaks of. What is reassuring is that slowly, but surely, the general public is learning this lingo and looking for it on the garments they purchase. As a result, “…more designers are asking for it now too, and demanding eco-versions of fabrics from their suppliers,” says Marcia Patmos, the designer from Leroy & Perry who was one of the competing ten designers.

(Maria Cornejo, Jeffery Costello, Monique Pean, Robert Tagliapietra)

And speaking of supply – which of the ten designers will be applying supplying us with their eco-fashion creations next Fall? Drumroll please! The three labels that were awarded the eco-challenge CFDA and Lexus package are:

Monique Pean

Costello Tagliapietra

Maria Cornejo

“The fact is, we are all trying to be eco-friendly,” asserts Maria Cornejo. “These are little steps that really build into something.” Cornejo went on to advise other designers to ‘be creative’ and think of other ways of being eco than just sourcing, such as being local in production or using non-toxic dying processes.

(Reed Krakoff, Monique Pean and Scott Mackinlay Hahn)

For fellow winner Monique Pean, eco-fashion translates directly to slow fashion, which she describes as, “…designing pieces that are high in quality and passed down from generation to generation.”

Going back to Mackinlay Hahn’s statement about utilizing a new language to talk about fashion, I think we are definitely there and as Robert Tagliapietra of Costello Tagliapietra so eloquently put it, “This communication is immeasurable.”

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