Not in Vogue... yet

Photo: Tim Soter

Valentine Leung of Valentine
Age: 35
Backstory: Though her parents owned a custom-menswear boutique in Hong Kong, Leung chose paintbrushes over sewing machines and studied fine art at UC Berkeley. The fledgling artist began cobbling together outfits for her videotaped performance art, which ultimately led to taking some fashion design classes at FIT and assisting as a stylist for magazines such as i-D. Last year, she launched a capsule collection of girlishly appealing frocks. Her mod fall line—a complete closet’s worth of swingy jackets, silk blouses, pleated skirts and bubble dresses in a sober palette—supplies ladies with smart, youthful pieces that recall prep-school uniforms, or perhaps what a studious art student would wear to sketching class.

Valentine Rose Butterfly dress, $392, at I Heart; Bonny pleated ruffle dress, $365, at Otte.

Photo: Alexander Milligan

Where it’s at: Cantaloup, Otte, Intermix, I Heart and anicaboutique.com

Favorite products
Nymphenbury ceramic birds: “Plain, simple and delicate. I first saw them at Moss.”
Weleda Malva body lotion and Dr. Hauschka’s rose cream, toner and moisturizing day cream: “These products are well made, with good ingredients that I’m comfortable using.”

Ted Muehling

Photo: Wenyi Huang

Favorite stores
Ted Muehling in Soho
Rizzoli on West 57th Street
Park Slope Food Coop

Chinatown

Photo: Wenyi Huang

Favorite NYC landmarks
Chinatown: “I like to do my food shopping there, and being Chinese from Hong Kong, it is the closest thing to what I know.”
Brooklyn Botanic Garden in April: “I love the cherry blossoms. When they bloom, I know summer is around the corner.”

Favorite design source
Midtown’s Mokuba: “They have a large selection of good-quality trims from Japan. It’s not a deal, but you get what you pay for.”

Favorite bars and restaurants
Amorina in Prospect Heights
Blue Apron and Gen in Park Slope

Fall 2007 inspirations
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud
Thursday Styles section of The New York Times
The Paul Poiret show at the Met
Django Reinhardt and Icky Thump by the White Stripes
“Richard Tuttle’s simple lines and shapes and Cy Twombly’s color palette inspired the new collection.”