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Harker’s annual fashion show is nearly here and one of San Francisco’s top designers is bringing his latest fashions fresh from New York to the runway.
Of the 11 fashion designers being featured at this year’s event – a list that includes Tommy Bahama, Oakley and Eli Thomas – “the highlight might be the young San Francisco designer, Ken Chen, who’ll be providing some very edgy clothes for our senior girls to model,” said Sue Prutton, director of upper school volunteer activities and fashion show liaison. “Just two weeks before our event he will be showing at Fashion Week in New York and will be bringing his designs back for our students to wear on our runway!”
“It certainly is an exciting time for us,” Chen said. “We have had an amazing year presenting our first collection and we hope this new collection will bring about even more possibilities for us and our clients. New York Fashion Week has been a dream of ours from the start so we are pressing ourselves to make it amazing. Luckily, all the prep we’re doing for New York will also make the Harker fashion show an extravagant display as well!”
Chen believes editing a collection is one of the most crucial elements of the show, and at Harker, is looking forward to showing the highlights of the collection. Chen wants the audience to “see the range of different shapes and contours we design. We also want to convey how wearable our line is while retaining boldness and luxury.”
The collection is a combination of Chen’s interest in modern technology and architecture, and how they relate to the natural world. “This collection is an exploration of geometric, minimalist design with touches of luxury and extravagance. We continue to use cashmere/wool blends and leather for structured pieces, but now we’ve added lighter fabrics as well for fluidity and draping. These graceful moments expand our range and complement our signature structural motif,” he said.
Harker’s fashion show also allows Chen a chance to pursue another one of his passions: reaching out to the local fashion community. “We love the Bay Area,” he said. “We were very flattered and honored to be invited to such an exclusive event! We jumped on board knowing we’d have a whole new collection to show.”