BROOKLYN At DESIGNERS & AGENTS SPRING SHOW, SEPTEMBER 17TH – 19TH

Designers & Agents is tapping that energy, bringing a slice of Brooklyn style back to the borough of Manhattan for its Spring 07’ market. Taking place between September 17 –19, at the Starrett-Lehigh building, the D&A Spring show will feature a marketplace exclusively devoted to Brooklyn’s best and brightest, introducing new fashion, art, and music talent to the D&A community.

Launched almost a decade ago, D&A has, since its inception, looked for new ways to collaborate creativity and commerce at its shows in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. D&A founders Ed Mandelbaum and Barbara Kramer have invented a new kind of retail marketplace, one that freely cross-pollinates art, music and style, and fosters a sense of camaraderie ? A marketplace much like Brooklyn itself.

Brooklyn and Designers & Agents is a natural match. Long an incubator of the arts, the borough across the river has lately emerged as the new frontier in fashion, art, and design. Ateliers and boutiques have cropped up all over Brooklyn, planting the seeds of a style community to rival the borough’s world-famous music scene. Innovative shops have opened alongside the art galleries that first beckoned talent-spotters to brave the L train ? and new designers arrive everyday, bringing with them new ideas, and unmistakable fresh energy.

“D&A is all about highlighting and nurturing new talent,” says Mandelbaum. “Right now, the new talent is in Brooklyn. Music, film, fashion, food, sustainable design ? it’s all happening there. Brooklyn is the new address for emerging new talent.”

• The Designers & Agents Brooklyn gallery will include:
• Fashion and Accessories
• Music
• Art

“Even though you can’t say that there’s one particular Brooklyn style,” notes Barbara Kramer, Co-founder of D&A, “because of the borough’s eclectic mix of people and culture, I think you can say that there’s a particular Brooklyn spirit, independence and vivacity. That’s what we’re trying to capture with this gallery ? showcasing the spirit of Brooklyn, D&A style.”

The selection of fashion and accessories will be co-curated by D&A and Williamsburg style pioneer Stella Metzner. “As a stylist and designer I love to see what’s out there; the next new talent on the verge,” says Metzner. “This project gives me the opportunity to explore Brooklyn and see what emerging designers are doing. Although I’m as I explore the area for designers. “She adds, “I find it hard not to shop…”

All Independent fashion and accessory designers who live and/ or work in Brooklyn are invited to apply for one of the twelve exhibition slots. Applications can be found at D&A’s website, www.designersandagents.com.