Stephen Burrows is an American fashion designer based in New York City.
Early Years
In May 2006 the CFDA honored Burrows with “The Board of Directors Special Tribute;” adding the designer to the ranks of such previous luminaries as Tom Ford and Alexander McQueen. Around the same time, Burrows was invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode to return to Paris to present his Spring/Summer 2007 Collection in the Carousel de Louvre. "BURROWS IN PARIS" was presented to resounding applause as part of French Fashion Week. Fashion critic Suzy Menkes of “The International Herald Tribune” praised Burrows as “the Master of matte jersey and colour combinations!” In addition to “Stephen Burrows World”, Burrows expanded his company to include a number of labels drawn from various points of inspiration. “S by Burrows” was created for a venture with Home Shopping Europe (HSN) in Munich, Germany, while “Everyday Girl” was inspired by Anna Cleveland, daughter to muse and model Pat Cleveland, and “SB73,” a cut and sew knit line that was developed based on Burrows’ hallmark, color-blocked creations of the seventies.
Burrows’ work as a fashion designer has been the subject of a series of retrospectives: in “1940-1970’s Cut and Style” at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology; “The 1970’s” at The Tribute Gallery in New York, and in “Back to Black: Art, Cinema, and the Racial Imaginary” at Whitechapel Gallery in London in June 2005. That same year he was the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Jenny Grenville and is the subject of another documentary under development by Patrick di Santo.
In Good Company
First Lady Michelle Obama's choose to wear a Burrows Jersey pantsuit to a Washington DC event. Remarking on the significance, Vogue Magazine wrote, "It was a wonderful acknowledgement of Burrows, one of the great African-American designers and a Harlem resident known for his inventive cuts and bias technique."
Also in 2010, Burrows opened his new showroom and design studio in New York City’s Garment Center.
2011 marks Burrows’ 45th year as a designer. It began with Burrows co-hosting the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Celebration of models in the 1973 Versailles Fashion Show that altered perceptions of American fashion’s presentation on the world stage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/fashion/22burrows.html
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