If someone were to compile a checklist of prerequisites for a quirky New York fashion line, Beckerman would tick the boxes on all counts. Shows sound tracked by the designers’ musician friends? Yes. Clothes stocked in Barneys Co-op? Yep. Lo-fi YouTube videos of Agyness Deyn shimmying down the sidewalk in said clothes? Mais bien sur. Agyness liked shimmying about in them so much so she made two videos. Caillianne, one third of the Beckerman sister trio says: "We're great friends and we were just messing around having fun. That’s what Beckerman clothes are all about!"
Designer sisters Caillianne, Chloe and Samantha Beckerman might have the kind of freewheeling DIY attitude that abhors marketing strategies; nevertheless, the sisters’ innate sense of cool surrounds the label with the kind of aura that PR companies labour in vain to manufacture. Doubtless it’s this which has ensured orders from Upper East Side behemoths Henri Bendel and Barneys as well as edgy Williamsburg boutiques since the label’s launch in 2005.
Their YouTube videos feature Puddin' Tang, which Caillianne can't get enough of. "We love Puddin' Tang. It’s the
coolest, most fun music and our friends
are in it! We love using their music in our videos and listened a lot
to it while designing."
Toronto-born graduates of the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, the sisters have the knack of creating playful, rock’n’roll tinged clothes for their affluent, twenty-something clientele. Their current A/W 08 collection combines Chanel-style Uptown matriarch tailoring with taffeta prom skirts toughened with industrial rivets. Also featured are a Sarah Palin-baiting compendium of grunge huntsman jackets in luxe fabrics, t-shirts emblazoned with grizzly bears and dainty silk slip dresses printed with snowy landscapes. "We watched the Shining with Jack Nicholson and wanted to do a scary haunted season - stuck in a cabin somewhere!"They may live in New York now, but these girls’ hearts are still in Canada.
Beckerman is stocked by asos.com and Emily Evans SW10.
