One year ago I embarked on a Year Of Living Designer Free. My purpose was to seek out and promote small, independent designers and brands and eschew the big name designers. You can read my motivations in the original post here.
Throughout the year I still followed fashion closely but I was never seriously pining for something that my self-imposed ban restricted. What I found were many top indie brands that offer fantastic product, well made and designed and much easier on the wallet. I was also charmed by the back-stories of many of these brave entrepreneurs who by force of will and passion for what they do found their niche and built thriving businesses. With great difficulty I narrowed it down to only 12 companies to list as my favorite finds of the year. I think my next project will be to make a directory of all the companies I’ve written about and will continue to add to in the coming year. As always your suggestions are welcome.
Independent Designers
The six companies named here have all distinguished themselves by concentrating on their own unique styles and area of expertise. For Restless Sleepers, seen in the top photo, was first noted on Prima Darling in November of 2016 and has remained a favorite ever since. Follow the links for the pants pictured above and a similar dress.
Shoes
Bags and Hats
Jewelry
Though I may allow myself to wander the shoe department at Barneys now that my year of living designer free is over, I’ll continue to enthusiastically shop the top indie brands named here and stay on the look out for more.
