Sara Berman (fashion designer)

Sara Berman is a British fashion designer whose eponymous womenswear brand operated from 1998 until 2012, when she put the label on hold to focus on fine art. Producing clothing for London stores before she graduated and achieving success within a year of leaving fashion college, she won both New Generation (NewGeN) awards and a UK fashion export award.

Sara Berman
Born1976 (age 44–45)
London, England
Education
Label(s)
Sara Berman; Berman Black

The brand was renowned for its knits, quirky prints and tailored pieces.[1]

Early life and career

Sara Berman was born in 1976 and is the daughter of the fashion designer Helene Berman.[2] She studied at Fine Arts College in Hampstead, and Central St Martins College of Art and Design.[3] While at St Martins she worked with Jasper Conran, Charles & Patricia Lester, and Armani, and, after she left, she worked for Maria Grachvogel.[3][4][5] Berman's graduate collection was taken up by Fenwicks.[4]

Establishment of eponymous label

Some sources place the launch of Sara Berman in 1999, but her label first featured in The Times in 1998, which showcased Indian embroidered silk skirts available at Fenwicks. She was described then as: "a new British design talent".[6][7] These first skirts had been created while Berman was still at design college and made from saris. Thanks to her mother's connections she managed to get them produced and they appeared in Joseph as well as Fenwicks.[8]

In 1999, her designs featured in Fenwicks' Bond Street store window during London Fashion Week.[9] Examples from her collections – including sheepskin accessories, spotted cotton summer skirts and blouses and full silk skirts with net layering – appeared regularly in the fashion pages of The Times throughout this period.[10][11][12] The paper also noted that within a year of graduating, Berman had made it into the boutiques Mimi and Tokio, alongside Fenwick.[13]

Berman took advantage of her mother's contacts in building the company.[4] Her sister Amiee Berman joined the company as a business partner and co-designer, having herself studied at Central Saint Martins.[6] By 2002 Sara Berman had won the Marks and Spencer New Generation award three times, which was seen as an unusual achievement.[14]

In 2002, Berman featured – alongside Burberry, Paul Smith and Eley Kishimoto – in a feature about the direction of London designers. She was described as: "shaping up to be the thinking It girl's darling".[15] In a profile that year, she described how she had turned down a fashion job offer in Italy after realising the salary was in lira rather than sterling. She also revealed that she managed all stages of production of her garments and of fabric selection – having grown up visiting garment factories with her mother.[8] By 2003 The Guardian had listed Sara Berman as one of three women in the field of fashion to keep an eye on, noting that her designs were Liberty's second-highest seller and that she was often featured in Vogue magazine.[4]

In 2005 Sara Berman won the UK Fashion Export Award for designer womenswear.[16][17] The label developed a range of lines for American brands Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.[6] High-profile wearers included Gwen Stefani and Zadie Smith.[6] By then, the label was being sold in 60 stores around the world.[1] This included trousers for a US department store and pieces for Harrods and Harvey Nichols.[18]

Launch of second label

By 2008 the Sara Berman brand had a second label, Berman Black, and Berman also acted as creative director of the cashmere brand N.Peal.[19] Berman also created ranges for Urban Outfitters and ASOS.[20]

In 2012 Sara Berman withdrew from fashion design to focus on fine art.[21]

References
  1. Asome, Carolyn (12 September 2005). "Fashion Capital". The Times (68490).
  2. Shaitly, Shahesta (15 August 2010). "Sara Berman: five things I know about style". The Observer. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. "Alumni: Sara Berman & Aimee Berman". Fine Arts College. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. Brooks, Libby (30 September 2003). "50 women to watch: Top girls: part two". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. Jarvis, Alice-Azania (26 April 2008). "The 5-minute Interview: Sara Berman, Fashion designer". The Independent. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  6. Olins, Alice (22 June 2006). "Insider trading". The Times. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. "Objects of Desire". The Times (66214). 29 May 1998.
  8. Armstrong, Lisa (15 April 2002). "You can't fight the genes". The Times (67425).
  9. "Diary". The Times (66612). 6 September 1999.
  10. Armstrong, Lisa (3 January 2000). "Layering – the relaxed art of comfort dressing". The Times.
  11. Shilling, Jane (7 April 2000). "Time to go dotty". The Times.
  12. Armstrong, Lisa (2 October 2000). "Fashion Diary". The Times.
  13. "In Khaki". The Times. 8 May 2000.
  14. "MT's 35 Women under 35 2008: The List". Management Today. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  15. Armstrong, Lisa (18 February 2002). "Love it, loathe it, you can't be indifferent to London Fashion Week". The Times.
  16. Armstrong, Lisa (16 November 2005). "Fringes? Sweetie, they went out ten minutes ago". The Times (68546).
  17. "Insider Trading". The Times (68733). 22 June 2006.
  18. Armstrong, Lisa (21 September 2005). "Embrace the elan of the elite". The Times (68498).
  19. "Berman sisters take the reins at N.Peal". Drapers Online. 11 August 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  20. McCormac, Pip (17 February 2008). "Sara Berman on why homemaking is better than clubbing". The Times. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  21. "Sara Berman Bio". Sara Berman. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
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