Première Vision and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) have named Maria Cornejo, a CFDA Member, the brand ambassador for the next Première Vision New York show, which takes place from 16-17 January 2018, welcoming 277 exhibitors.

Maria Cornejo will present several designs created exclusively for Première Vision New York using textiles she selected from the Swiss company Schoeller Textil during her visit to Première Vision Paris last September. The designs will be produced locally in New York City by David Wolfson and Associates.

This collaboration puts the spotlight on an important topic developed by Première Vision: Smart Creation. Through its Smart Creation platform for study and communications, launched in September 2015, the goal of the Première Vision Group has been to promote the responsible approaches of its exhibitors, and shed light on a new generation of values combining creativity, innovation and sustainability.

“I’m honoured to be the PV Ambassador and, alongside the CFDA and Premiere Vision, push the future of responsible fashion forward. As part of our collective mission to draw attention to the areas of sustainability, innovation and local manufacturing in the industry, I look forward to showcasing our special capsule collection to demonstrate that sustainability doesn’t have to be boring, that it can be forward thinking and exciting for the consumer. And, as a designer that starts the process with textiles, PV is an incredible resource and inspiration for myself and my design team,” said Maria Cornejo.

Zero + Maria Cornejo

Zero + Maria Cornejo opened in 1998 as a purely retail concept when, prompted by a desire to re-connect with the core of her ideas about design, cutting and garment construction, Chilean-born designer Maria Cornejo transformed a raw space in New York’s Nolita into a very personal store and atelier named Zero.

Since the beginning, the Zero + Maria Cornejo collection has been largely produced in the heart of New York City’s Garment District with the exception of a few categories, including shoes and knitwear, which are made by small, independently owned factories abroad.

Maria Cornejo was honoured as a winner of the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards in 2006 and has been a member of the CFDA since 2003, joining the Sustainability Committee as a founding member in 2013. Zero + Maria Cornejo was one of three winners of the 2015-2017 CFDA + Lexus Fashion Initiative, which accomplished measurable sustainability changes within the business.

The collection is available at more than 80 stores worldwide, including Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, and Harvey Nichols Hong Kong.

Commitment to responsible creation

Among the fabrics used to create the exhibited collection is the winner of the 2017 Fashion Smart Creation Prize at the last PV Awards. This particular award, presented for the first time this year, honours the most creative and responsible fabric among the collections presented at Première Vision Paris.

The prize-winning fabric is a double-face with a smooth, colour-contrasting back in Econyl yarn by Schoeller Textil. The special feature of this soft-shell lies in its sustainability: the bio foam in the centre is based on renewable raw materials. Water repellence is ensured by the new fluorocarbon-free ecorepel bio technology, also based on renewable raw materials. Wind and weather protection is provided by the two-layer Schoeller-WB formula with a climate-regulating c_change membrane.

Commitment to local economy

All the pieces are produced by David Wolfson and Associates, a 2015-16 grant recipient of the CFDA’s Fashion Manufacturing Initiative (FMI) Grant Fund. David Wolfson and Associates will be present at the show alongside other local manufacturers in the CFDA’s FMI space. This area, which will be held for the third time, is part of the partnership between PV and the CFDA and represents Première Vision’s commitment to supporting local manufacturing.

With Maria Cornejo’s collaboration, Première Vision organisers say the show continues its strategy of promoting local creation in countries where the brand is present with a show. “After representing the values of the show through advertising campaigns featuring fabric-passionate ambassadors Nellie Partow, Peter Trainor & Anne-Marie Maniego from Max’N Chester and David Hart, Première Vision has taken a new step forward in its ambassador programme with the support of the CFDA. This collaboration has been in place for several months, giving birth to exceptional capsule collection,” organisers report.

www.premierevision.com