contemporary luxury womenswear brand specializing in leather and fur || r a e a n a

R A E A N A

A CONTEMPORARY LUXURY WOMENSWEAR BRANDSPECIALIZING IN LEATHER AND FUR.

. I STARTED MY BRAND IN 2010 WHILE I WAS STILL A STUDENT IN THE BFA PROGRAM AT PARSONS SCHOOL FOR DESIGN.

I LAUNCHED THE BRAND WITH MY SENIOR THESIS COLLECTION, 6 LOOKSINSPIRED BY THE COLOR COMPLEXITIES OF A BISMUTH GEODE.

THE COLLECTION FEATURES DEGRADE MINK PIECES, CREATED THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH SAGA FURS AND THE HONG KONG FUR FEDRATION.

I WON THE SAGA FURS DESIGN COMPETITION IN 2009 , WHICH ALLOWED ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THE SAGA FURS

DESIGN CENTRE IN DENMARK. SAGA FURS IS A COMPANYDEDICATED TO PROMOTING THE USE AND SALES OF FUR,

AND INNOVATIVE FUR TECHNIQUES. THEY TRAIN FURRIERS AND DESIGNERS, ESTABLISHED AND

EMERGING ALIKE. SAGA FURS WORKS WITH SOME OF THE WORLDS LEADING HOUSES USING FUR LIKE FENDI, BURBERRY, GUCCI AND CHANEL.

(AT JONEVON FURS STUDIO)

DEGRADE MINK JACKETS FROM THE BISMUTH COLLECTION

MINK JACKETS FROM THE BISMUTH COLLECTION ON DISPLAYIN HONG KONG AT THE ANNUAL HONG KONG FUR FEDERATION TRADE SHOW

(LEFT) LEATHER JACKET FROM THE BISMUTH COLLECTION (RIGHT).

MINK DEGRADE ZIP FRONT JACKET IN THE WINDOW AT SAKS 5TH AVENUE. BUYERS SELECTED THE PIECETO BE A PART OF THE “OMBRE” STORY IN THE 5TH AVENUE WINDOW..

STRETCH LEATHER ETHOS DRESS WITH BLUE RUBBER ACCENT ZIPPER

KNIT DRESS AND LAMBSKIN LEATHER JACKET WITH RUBBER ACCENT ZIPPERS.

STRETCH LEATHER JOGGERS WITH KNIT BANDAGE TOP

LAMBSKIN PENCIL SKIRT WITH BLUE RUBBER ACCENT ZIPPER AND WOOL KNIT TOP

A PHOTO OF ME AT THE SAGA FURS DESIGN CENTRE IN APRIL OF 2015.I WAS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN A TUTORS SEMINAR.

THE FIRST FUR PIECE I DESIGNED, WHICH WON 1ST PLACE IN THE SAGA FURS DESIGN COMPETITION IN 2009.

WORKING WITH A STUDENT FROM THE FUR NEW YORK PROGRAM.I AM TEACHING HER HOW TO PROPERLY HANDLE THE SKIN AND BLADE

WHILE CUTTING STRIPS FOR A PATTERN.

IN 2013 I WAS OFFERED A POSITION TEACHING DESIGN AT THE HIGH SCHOOL OF FASHION INDUSTRIES.

IN ADDITION TO TEACHING DESIGN, I INITIATED A FUR PROGRAMAT THE SCHOOL WITH THE SUPPORT OF FICA, GREATER FUR NEW YORK, AND SAGA FURS.

THE GOAL OF THE PROGRAM IS TO TEACH YOUNG DESIGNERSHOW TO WORK WITH FUR. THE AVERAGE AGE OF A FURRIER IS

ABOUT 75 YEARS OLD. I PARTNERED WITH JOHN PETKANAS, THE PRESIDENT OF FUR NEW YORK TO INITIATE CLASSES FOR THE

STUDENTS TWO DAYS A WEEK WITH WORLD RENOWNEDFURRIER JERRY SORBARA. IN ADDITION TO WORKSHOP/CLASS

TIME THE STUDENTS ALSO INTERN WITH A FURRIER. INTERNSHIP SITESINCLUDE OSCAR DE LA RENTA, J MENDEL, AND OTHER LOCAL

FURRIERS. I WAS INVITED BACK TO THE SAGA FURS DESIGN CENTRE IN APRIL OF 2015 TO LEARN NEW FUR TECHNIQUES.

UPON MY RETURN FROM SAGA FURS I MADE THE DECISION TO RESIGN FROM TEACHING FULL TIME, AND FOCUS ON THE BRAND FULL TIME.

I REMAIN AN ACTIVE ADVISOR FOR THE FUR PROGRAM.

APPLYING INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES AT SAGA FURSTO MAKE THE FUR A LIGHTER AND MORE VERSATILE MATERIAL

TO WORK WITH, AND WEAR.

A R T H R O P O D A 16

ARTHROPODA 16 IS A FALL WINTER FUR COLLECTION THAT WILL CONSIST OF 8 LOOKS + ACCESSORIES INSPIRED BYARTHROPODS, PARTICULARLY BEETLES. THE DESIGN ELEMENTS ARE INSPIRED BY THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS

OF BEETLES THAT ARE UNIQUE IN COLOR AND COMPOSITION. I AM CURRENTLY IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PRODUCTION- FINALIZINGAND PERFECTING THE FIT OF EACH LOOK IN MUSLIN (PROTOTYPE FABRIC). THE GOAL IS TO GO INTO PRODUCTION IN FULL FABRIC BY

NOVEMBER, AND CONCLUDE BY LATE JANUARY TO BEGIN SHOWING THE COLLECTION TO BUYERS. THE SAMPLES ARE BEING PRODUCEDPARTIALLY BY JONEVON FURS OF NO UP FRONT COST TO MY BUSINESS. I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR FUNDING PRODUCTION

OF ALL NON FUR AREAS OF THE COLLECTION. I NEED ASSISTANCE WITH FUND RAISING TO DEFRAY THE COST OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF THE COLLECTION IN THE EARLY STAGES. I AM ALSO SEEKING FINANCIAL MENTORSHIP.

I AM PROJECTING THE FOLLOWINGFUND RAISING GOALS:

ROUND 1 OF FUND RAISING (COVERS PRODUCTION OF SAMPLES, AND MARKETING OF THE COLLECTION) $25,000

ROUND 2 OF FUND RAISING (COVERS PRODUCTION OF THE COLLECTION ONCE ORDERS ARE PLACED)(TBD)

ROUND 3 OF FUND RAISING (TBD)

SKI MASK WITH FELTED FUR AND FRINGE FROM THE COLLECTION.

ONE OF THE TECHNIQUES I CREATED USES FOX FUR AND LEATHER WITH GLASS BEADS COLLAGED IN THE FORM OF AN ARTHROPOD.

RETAILERS OF INTEREST:

KIRNA ZABETE- NEW YORKJEFFREY- NEW YORKBERGDORF GOODMAN- NEW YORKOWEN- NEW YORKROAM- NEW YORKHARVEY NICHOLS- LONDONIKRAM- CHICAGOMODAOPERONDI.COM

TOILE IN PROCESS

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN MY STORY, AND IN MY WORK.PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH, AND KEEP UP WITH THE PROCESS

AS I DEVELOP THE ARTHROPODA 16 COLLECTION.

RAEANA@RAEANA.COM

@BEHINDTHELABEL #ARTHROPODA16