Erin Barr, the new designer collection by Erin Barr, is a study in contrasts reflecting the real attitudes of the modern day woman. Barr, a Wisconsin native, began her career in fashion as a hair and make-up artist. After graduating from Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, MN, Barr was offered a job in New York where she remained for three years. Although working at top salons, garnering a celebrity clientele, and working on editorial shoots, Barr yearned to design a more complete vision. She moved to London to study fashion design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. After a year, Barr returned to the States to complete her studies at Parson’s New School for Design, which she followed up with an internship at Alexander Wang, and a design assistant position at Cushnie Et Ochs. The Spring 2012 season found Barr debuting her own eponymous collection, titled “An American Tomboy in Paris”.

Now in her third season, Spring 2013 takes us back to the late 1950′s. The inspiration for her collection draws from a fictional collaboration between two iconic personalities in the American art world, artist Frank Stella, and actress Marilyn Monroe. The latter part of the 1950′s found Marilyn refining her image and Frank exploring optic and labyrinth-like shapes. Playing those two components against one another results in a look that is somewhat architecturally rigid, but with a certain softness to it. While Spring 2013 revisits Erin’s previous affinity for womenswear with a hint of tomboy, new this season is a foray into prints, exploration into graphics, and utilization of more structured fabrics and stronger colors.