Elena Velez
Elena Velez at the Met Gala, 2023
Born
Elena Mariana Velez

(1994-09-10) September 10, 1994
Alma materCentral Saint Martins, Parsons School of Design
OccupationFashion Designer
SpouseAndreas Emenius
Children2
Websitehttps://www.elenavelez.com/

Elena Velez is an American fashion designer and artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, based in New York City.[1] Her work is known for its non traditional synthesis of metalsmith and high fashion.

Described by Vogue as "explosive and aggressive",[2] Velez's work has been inspired by the historic craftsmanship and manufacturing legacy of the American Rust Belt and is the product of collaboration with local metalsmith artisans to revisit the regional craft.[3] Central themes in her work include deconstruction,[4] unconventional & complicated femininity,[5] and alternative construction methods, which include "salvaged" and "site-specific materiality".[6] Velez coins her visual identity as "aggressively delicate".[7]

Velez is on The Dazed 100 List,[8] the winner of the 2022 CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund,[9] the 2022 CFDA Emerging Designer of the Year,[10] and is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Velez is often associated with the "Dimes Square" reactionary aesthetic movement having collaborated with and "drawn inspiration"[11] from key figures of the scene including Red Scare Podcast,[12] Compact Magazine,[13] KIRAC, Urbit[14] et al.

Early life and education

Of Puerto Rican heritage[4] but raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Velez claims in recent interviews that the "industrial" nature of her "nontraditional upbringing" as the only child to a single mother who is a ship's captain on the Great Lakes influenced her current artistic identity, which she says draws heavily on "the relationship between femininity and force".[15] With a beginning interest in design from early childhood, the first documentation of her developments appear in local TV news as a teenager in 2010.[16]

Velez studied at Parsons Paris from 2013 to 2015 and graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2018[17] with a BFA in fashion design and minor in creative entrepreneurship.[1] Additionally in 2020 she received a Graduate Diploma in fashion design from Central Saint Martins in London.[1] Her BFA thesis collection was shown at VFILES Season 10 Runway,[18] and London Fashion Week, as a guest of the Swedish Fashion Council.[19]

Career

Velez was first named by I-D Magazine in 2018 as "one of five under the radar designers to discover at New York Fashion Week" after first gaining viral success on VFILES Runway.[20]

In 2019 Velez's work was exhibited as a Teen Vogue 2019 Generation Next designer curated by Editor in Chief of Vogue Anna Wintour and she was referred to by the Editor in Chief of The Cut, Lindsey Peoples, as “a designer representing the future of fashion”.[21] Her work has received coverage in Business of Fashion,[22][23] Women's Wear Daily,[24] WGSN,[25][26][18][20][27] Numero Berlin,[28][4][7][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][12][36][37] and other publications.[38][39][40]

In February, 2021, Elena Velez Industries Inc. was founded with investment support from venture capital firms Gener8tor, and CSA Partners.[41] The company was subsequently featured in Forbes for its work with Midwestern makers and mission to "democratize resources and recognition" for artists outside of traditional creative capitals.[36]

Velez has dressed celebrities including Solange Knowles,[28] Ethel Cain,[42] Julia Fox, Eartheater, Doja Cat, Teyana Taylor, and others.[43][44][45][46]

In 2022, Velez won American Emerging Designer of the Year at the CFDA Fashion Awards.[47][48] In March 2023, she was inducted as a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.[49]

Elena Velez with Anna Wintour and Lindsay Peoples, 2019

Velez attended the 2023 Met Gala as a guest of Balenciaga. For the occasion, she created a crackle medium screenprint ink-gown for the artist Sasha Gordon as a nod to Gordon's painting career.[50]

Velez is an outspoken advocate for transparency around the struggles of being a young designer, detailing in a profile for the New York Times her difficulties around growing a brand without private wealth.[40]

Awards and showcases

  • Recognizee, The Dazed 100 List curated by Ib Kamara, 2023[8]
  • Nominee, Emerging Designer/ Brand of the Year; Latin American Fashion Awards, 2023[51]
  • Recognizee, 50 Women In Power list by WWD, New York, 2023[52]
  • Recipient, Elle Magazine's 2023 Women of Impact Award, WA D.C., 2023[53]
  • Winner, Fashion Trust US Sustainability Award, New York 2023[54][55]
  • Winner, Best Emerging Designer; CFDA Fashion Awards, New York 2022[47][10]
  • Winner, CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Award, New York 2022[56]
  • Recipient, IMG Fashion Alliance Grant, New York 2022[57]
  • Winner,Teen Vogue Generation Next, New York 2019[58]
  • Winner,VFILES Season 10 Runway, New York 2018[59]
  • Finalist, Swedish Fashion Council CTF Award, London 2018[60]

Museum acquisitions

Collections

  • YR004 - The Longhouse, Sep. 2023[63]
  • YR003 - How's My Driving?, Feb. 2023[64]
  • YR002 - In Glass, Sep. 2022[65]
  • YR001 - Maidenhood And Its Labors, Feb. 2022[66]
  • YR000 - Rinascita, Sep. 2021[67]
  • Homecoming, 2019[68]
  • Vessel, 2019[5]
  • _And Carry On, 2018[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "statement | contact". elenavelez. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  2. "Elena Velez Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection". Vogue. 2023-02-14. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  3. Hauer, Sarah. "This Milwaukee native has designed clothes for Ariana Grande, Halsey and Solange even before finishing school". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Puerto Rican Designer Finding Inspiration in War-Torn Society". PAPER. 2018-07-24. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  5. 1 2 "vessel". elenavelez. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  6. 1 2 "_and carry on". elenavelez. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  7. 1 2 "Aggressively Delicate". Office Magazine. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  8. 1 2 Dazed. "Dazed 100 | Dazed". www.dazeddigital.com. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  9. "Judy Turner, Elena Velez Among 2022 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalists". The Business of Fashion. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  10. 1 2 Solá-Santiago, Frances. "Meet The CFDA Awards' American Emerging Designer Of The Year". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  11. "What I Saw at the Longhouse Fashion Show | Justin Lee". First Things. 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  12. 1 2 "Red Scare Podcast, The Mid Gala with Elena Velez". Patreon.
  13. "Who's Afraid of Elena Velez?". compactmag.com. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  14. urbit.org. "Assembly Lisboa". assembly.urbit.org. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  15. Hairston, Tahirah (10 September 2019). "Meet The Designer Challenging The Idea of Femininity With Her Utilitarian Designs". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  16. "Elena Velez - Teenage Fashion Designer". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2017-07-15.
  17. "2018 ELENA VELEZ". Parsons School of Design. Archived from the original on 2021-05-11.
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