Apparel | Friday, February 20, 2009

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MEET THE DESIGNER: Courtney Yates

By Greg Wang

NEW YORK—The wit of her entry was every bit as appealing as her design.

For the gown that she showed in the runway finals of Supima’s second Competition for Emerging Designers at Gotham Hall last month, Courtney Brooke Yates deconstructed all the conventions of premium denim workwear.

And then rethought their possibilities and reassembled them into an elegant evening gown.

Using fabric from Arvind, Courtney draped and tucked her “workwear” material into an evening gown ornamented with copper rivets.

“I was able to drape and reate the gown exactly as I had imagined it. The hand of the fabric was extraordinary and I loved the structure. I typically make gowns with silk shantung, but I am now converted,” declared the 23-year-old designer, who added: “In the future, I will think of Supima as an option.”

Specifically, she praised: “The strength . . . I was able to create a structured corset-like bodice for the understructure. It also had a slight sheen to it due to the extra-long fibers, which gave the gown an added appeal.”

Courtney received her initial training from her family and her formal education at Radford University in Virginia. “I have always loved sewing and seeing what is in my head in 3-D form. I also love making women feel great about themselves and finding something that fits them perfectly—whatever their body type.”

These days, the New York-based designer does that via her custom-design business, which concentrates on wedding gowns and other special-occasion wear: “I make couture gowns with hand-sewn details and unique techniques that create a fresh-looking dress with a vintage ‘edge’.”

Contact her at CourtneyBrookeDesigns.com.