By Nicole Villalpando | Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 11:02 PM
Like many female designers, Isabella Rose Taylor designs what she wants to wear, what she couldn’t find in stores. It’s clothes she tests on herself.
What sets the Austinite apart is she designs for the preteen and teen girl because it’s a market she knows. She’s 11, after all.
Isabella’s line of 27 pieces walked down the runway, worn by professional models, friends and herself Wednesday at the Austin Fashion Week show at the Driskill Hotel. Isabella combined bright colors in unexpected combinations like orange with pink. Cute sheath dresses, blowsy shirts, lace leggings, shorts with pockets and black lacy skirts walked the runway, many with large floral accents on the front. The designs had a sophistication while being age appropriate and not too flirty. Isabella surprised by walking the runway as the last model. Many in the crowd who did not know Isabella’s age gasped when they realized that she was the designer.
“I feel wonderful,” she says after the show. “I think it went as good as could be.”
Several people encouraged her to apply to fashion week and so she did. “So many people have been so supportive,” she says.
Mom Sherri Taylor says this has been a busy summer because Isabella also was in an art show at Flatbed Press two weeks ago.
Isabella has been designing clothes for more than two years and her passion started as artwork, then mixed media, then she went to a sewing camp. This is her third collection.
Her parents are supportive, but they’re not sure where she got her love of fashion. “I’m so excited for her to fulfill her passion and dreams,” says mom Sherri Taylor after Isabella’s line walked down the runway. “It’s exciting. She worked so hard.”
While most kids her age would be going into sixth grade, Isabella is talking high school and college classes through the Davidson Institute for Talent Development for extremely gifted students.
Some of Isabella’s designs included a print of a self-portait painting she did. She sees fashion as a form of art with its use of color and form.
She finds many of her fabrics in New York, which she says she tries to go to every two months.
Next up, she’s doing some shows in Dallas and trying to get her lines into retail stores. The designs are not yet available online.
When asked if this is what she wants to do for the rest of her life, she responds, “Definitely.”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Isabella Rose Taylor walking the runway in her own design
a graphic tee showing Isabella’s own self portrait
Isabella Rose Taylor Blog 