New York Fashion Week Spring '09: Born Uniqorn
NEW YORK—Born Uniqorn made its New York Fashion Week debut at Style360’s closing-night party. Actress Taryn Manning and business partner Tara Jane presented their vintage-inspired line with an installation at Metropolitan Home’s Showtime House. Located in New York’s Gramercy Park neighborhood, the show home was transformed into an upscale modern residence using the Showtime network’s hit shows as inspiration. Designers including Laura Kirar, Amy Lau, Jamie Drake and Johnny Grey transformed each room into a theme inspired by shows such as “Dexter,” “Weeds,” “Californication,” “The L-Word” and “The Tudors.” Born Uniqorn topped off the design showcase with an installation on the top floor. An entertainment-themed event was the perfect setting for Manning, who is currently starring on the new television series “Sons of Anarchy.” The designers and longtime best friends were excited about the opportunity to present the collection at the event. They are taking a focused approach to branding their collection. “We’ve decided this season to not hold back and to totally be ourselves—which is the name of our line. It’s pretty much ’Born Unique,’” Manning said. “We don’t want to make just simple pieces. We have stuff for everyone, but we really went out of the box this time, and we hope that it works,” she added. Known for their knit, jersey and French terry novelty tops, pants, dresses and leggings, they expanded the collection for Spring with a variety of new bodies in stretch canvas. The look was 1970s bohemian hippie with an ’80s twist—what Manning referred to as “two-thousand-eighties.” The look was colorful with a rainbow theme in brights such as red, turquoise and purple. They re-created butterfly artwork found on dead stock T-shirts and will offer 12 designs, representing each sign of the zodiac. There were long dresses decorated with feathers and beads and jumpers with ’80s pyramid studding—details they consider to be almost like jewelry. “We’re really into accessorizing our pieces. You don’t have the perfect jewelry to wear with your outfit; it’s almost already built in,” Manning said. “I’m into ghetto fabulous. We both love jewelry. We try to incorporate that into our line.”—N. Jayne Seward
