Elena Velez is an American fashion designer and artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, based in New York City. Her work is known for its non traditional synthesis of metalsmith and high fashion. Dressing celebrities including Solange Knowles,

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has in ...

, Julia Fox, Charli XCX, Arca,

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, Tinashe,

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and Caroline Polachek, her recent collaborations include custom looks for music artists such as Kali Uchis,

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, and

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

. Velez was named by

I-D Magazine ''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue'' art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the for ...

in 2018 as one of five under the radar designers to discover at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

after first gaining viral success on VFILES Season 10 Runway. The brand is represented by Loft Creative Group and made its first official New York Fashion Week debut in September 2021. Velez is a winner of the 2022 CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund, and the winner of ''Best American Emerging Designer 2022'' at the CFDA Fashion Awards.

Early life & Inspiration

Described by Vogue as a "unique take on deconstruction, Velez's current work is inspired by the historic craftsmanship and manufacturing legacy of the American rustbelt and is the product of collaboration with local metalsmith artisans to revisit the regional craft. Central themes in her work include deconstruction, unconventional femininity, and alternative construction methods, which include "salvaged" and "site-specific materiality". Velez coins her visual identity as "aggressively delicate". Of Puerto Rican heritage but raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Velez claims in recent interviews that the "industrial" nature of her "nontraditional upbringing" as the only child to a single mother who is a ship's captain on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

influenced her current artistic identity, which she says draws heavily on "the relationship between femininity and force". With a beginning interest in design from early childhood, the first documentation of her developments appear in local TV news as a teenager in 2010.

Career

Velez studied at Parsons Paris from 2013 to 2015 and graduated from

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

in 2018 with a BFA in fashion design and minor in creative entrepreneurship. Additionally in 2020 she received a Graduate Diploma in fashion design from Central Saint Martins in London. Her BFA thesis collection was shown at ''VFILES Season 10 Runway'', and London Fashion Week, as a guest of the Swedish Fashion Council. In 2019 Velez's work was exhibited as a ''Teen Vogue 2019 Generation Next'' designer curated by Editor in Chief of

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Magazine's Anna Wintour, and Editor in Chief of NY Magazine's The Cut, Lindsey Peoples as “a designer representing the future of fashion”. Her work has received coverage in Business of Fashion,

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, Vogue Runway,

i-D Magazine ''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue'' art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the for ...

, Dazed, Numero Berlin,

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, Office Magazine, CFDA,

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Harpers Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

, and

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

The Cut. In February, 2021, Elena Velez Industries Inc. was founded with investment support from venture capital firms Gener8tor, and CSA Partners. The company was subsequently featured in

for its work with Midwestern makers and mission to "democratize resources and recognition" for artists outside of traditional creative capitals. Elena Velez with Anna Wintour and Lindsay Peoples Wagner at Teen Vogue Generation Next showcase

Elena Velez with Anna Wintour and Lindsay Peoples Wagner at Teen Vogue Generation Next showcase

Awards & Showcases

* ''Winner, Best Emerging Designer; CFDA Fashion Awards'', New York 2022 * ''CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Award'', New York 2022 * ''IMG Fashion Alliance Grant'', New York 2022 * ''Teen Vogue Generation Next'', New York 2019 * ''VFILES Season 10 Runway'', New York 2018 * ''Swedish Fashion Council CTF Award,'' London 2018

Collections

* ''Year 2 - In Glass, 2022'' * ''Year 1 - Maidenhood And Its Labors,'' 2022 * ''Year 0 - Rinascita,'' 2021 *''Homecoming'', 2019 * ''Vessel'', 2019 * ''_And Carry On'', 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velez, Elena 1994 births Living people Artists from Milwaukee American fashion designers Parsons School of Design alumni Alumni of Central Saint Martins Puerto Rican designers