Newest Designer to Showroom New York: Leanne Marshall

Showroom New York would like to welcome our newest designer Leanne Marshall, winner of season 5 Project Runway. A Portland, Oregon native, and a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Leanne is now a full fledge New York designer, and the transition is very apparent in her fall 2009 collection, compared to her spring 2009 Project Runway collection, Making Waves, which had a much more natural and organic feel. She says the drastic change “signifies my (her) transition from Portland to New York.” She goes on to say the fall 2009 collection was “inspired by the skyline of Manhattan that I (Leanne) could see from my (her) window in Brooklyn.”

Leanne says that she is excited to join Showroom New York because she has been in search of a showroom for quite some time, and had yet to find the right fit. She says she is “excited to join the showroom because most showrooms only house your collections, and help to make sales, but none help with the production of the clothes.” Leanne is new to production, and relatively new to New York, so she is happy to have the assistance of the showroom in finding quality factories and vendors to produce her collection.

She is also very passionate about local production and keeping the garment industry in New York alive, which is another reason why she says Showroom New York is “a perfect fit” for her. When asked if she would always keep her production local, she responded with a simple, but firm “Definitely”. She elaborated by saying that “there are so many capable people here that need jobs.”

Of course, with the current economy, entering into any business venture can be risky. When asked how she feels about starting a brand in this situation, Leanne plainly states that she “couldn’t imagine being anything else.” She goes on to say that she is lucky because she “received lots of exposure from the show (Project Runway).” With the economy in mind, Leanne’s fall 2009 collection is “designed with a well rounded price range”.

With her fall 2009 collection now in production, Leanne is getting an earlier start on her spring 2010 collection. Although she says she has a bad habit of procrastinated, she is learning from her mistakes along the way, and has high hopes with the help of Showroom New York in conjunction with the Garment Industry Development Corporation (GIDC).