Born and bred in Pretoria, South Africa, Albertus Swanepoel moved from Johannesburg to New York City after a seven year career as a critically acclaimed fashion designer under his Quartus Manna label.  In 1987 he won the Coty Award as top designer in his country.

In New York, Albertus trained as a milliner under Janine Galimard, who worked for Balenciaga in Paris in the 50's and 60's.

He assisted the well-known hat designer, Lola, for several years on a freelance basis. He  also worked with theatrical milliner, Lynne Mackey, where he constructed hats for Broadway shows such as Kiss me Kate and Mamma Mia, as well as several operas and ballets.

In 2000, he briefly acted as Style Editor for Martha Stewart Weddings magazine.

In 2004, Albertus began collaborating with several New York designers for their runway presentations.  He has since become known as the milliner to seek out during New York Fashion Week.  He has worked with such designers as Marc by Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Thakoon, Carolina Herrera, Peter Som, Erin Fetherston, Rodarte, Diane Von Furstenberg, Alexander Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Nathan Jenden, Costello Tagliapietra, Narciso Rodriquez, Richard Chai, Derek Lam, Suno, Bill Blass, DKNY, and Araks.

In 2006, he formed his own company, Albertus Swanepoel LLC, which designs and produces handmade hats for a select number of stores in the US and internationally. Albertus has received a number of honors, including being named as one of two runners-up for the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Award in 2008, a 2009 nomination for Swarovski CFDA Accessory Award, a 2010 WGSN Award nomination for Best Accessory Designer, and was named Accessory Designer of the Year during the 2010 African Fashion Week International. Additionally, Swanepoel’s work was featured in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s 2009 exhibit, “Hats: An Anthology.”

albertusswanepoel.com

Susan Cianciolo is an artist and clothing designer with extensive experience in design, production, and instruction. She studied fashion design in New York and Paris at Parsons School of Design and painting at Winchester School of Art. In her design career, she has acted as production director for Kim Gordon’s X-Girl clothing line and assistant collection designer at Badgley Mischka. Her RUN Collection, based upon the concept of collaboration, emphasized a certain skill or craft with each collection. She worked with Cone Denim on a full collection of pieces using their archives. The collaboration included shows in New York and Los Angeles and coincided with the release of her book, The Woman of The Crowd. Susan has also showcased her work in film with “1960’s Butterfly Girl.” She has also taught at Parsons School of Design in the Integrated Fashion Design Curriculum. She continues to show regularly on the New York fashion calendar and maintains a strong base of private and retail clients. An accomplished illustrator, Susan’s work is exhibited in museums around the world. 

Kenlynn Wilson hand produces each piece of knitwear for her line, ONE OF Collection, on non-mechanized knitting looms.  The goal is to design beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces that are sustainably made and of impeccable quality.