How The Other Half Design

While many creative types draw their artistic visions from beauty, New York-based designer José Durán shuns the notion of exploiting traditional beauty for financial gain. For his eponymous label, Durán instead features garments that are as aesthetically complex as the ideas behind them.

The Dominican Republic-born designer takes inspiration from non-traditional sources—a past collection even took form from a church massacre in his hometown. For the spring/summer '09 collection, Durán was inspired by women who lost their breasts due to cancer or whose amputated limbs are viewed as unattractive. The line celebrates the beauty within the distorted by incorporating Durán's signature draping methods for an alternative silhouette: cotton shirts hang off the body with dramatic cut-out detailing, while wool jackets and pants are finished off with angular sleeves and hemlines run along stark white and nude tops. Large flower print silks draped into long dresses or skirts complete the collection.

With an avant-garde design philosophy taking the fashion world by storm, Durࢱn hopes to catapult his artistic nuances into New York City fashion. "New York is all about business," he stated. "Some designers forget about the art of fashion." We can definitely appreciate the beauty in that.

For more information, visit joseduran.net.

—Kyle Landman and Vildana Kurtovic