Anusha Alikhan Talks To Fashion Designer Cassie Veres of New York Couture

Cassie Veres used to be weird. At least that’s what she was called at her Long Island high-school when she showed up to class in handmade duds of her own creation. She would cut patterns into the sides of her JNCO jeans, and moonlight vintage wedding dresses as everyday wear. Ridiculed by students and sometimes sent home by the principle, Cassie refused to trade in her signature style to suit anyone.

At 22-years-old Cassie celebrated her first fashion week in New York City at a packed show previewing her Spring 2006 line. For the past year Cassie, a self proclaimed “control freak” has put all her effort into starting-up “New York Couture,” her select line which caters to, “anyone who wants to have fun with their clothes, and be the only one wearing them.” The clothes, including flirty layered ruffled skirts, form fitting corsets, lacy love-child dresses, and material girl accents, are what Cassie calls “street Dior” – a little bit of punk, a little bit of romance, and a whole lot of edge.

In Stereo Lounge on Manhattan’s lower west side, amongst a dozen flittering models Cassie shot directions to her crew, her bleach blond hair piled upon her head in Picasso meets punk disarray. She rose, standing shoulder height with a towering model, her trim frame primed to accessorize. “I believe clothing is a way to express your self,” said Cassie. “Everyone is unique, and their clothes should reflect that.” Her wild blue eye-shadow complimented the twinkle in her eyes.

New York Couture was born in December 2004. After graduating at the top of her class with a business degree from Pace University in two-and-a-half years, Cassie got a job in marketing with Halston. “I never thought I would be a designer,” said Cassie. “I thought I would be involved in fashion on the marketing side of things.” That was until people started wanting the clothes she was wearing.

Stylists and fashion editors began approaching Cassie at the various shows she attended on behalf of Halston to find out where she was doing her shopping. “I don’t like wearing things out if there’s a chance someone else will be wearing it,” said Cassie. So instead of reverting to more a conservative style keeping with the Halston tradition, she created an independent wardrobe full of funk. She attended shows in tutu skirts, sleek double-breasted rhinestone blazers, and layers of antique pearls. “When top people in the industry started saying ‘Oh my god I love it!’ ‘Oh my god I need it’ I knew something good was going on,” said Cassie her wide smile spreading generously across her lean face.

Cassie’s mother used to dress her and her sister up in Christian Dior gowns when she was a child, “The fabulousness just stuck on,” said Cassie explaining the source of her fashion fetish. When Cassie’s younger sister fell sick in their childhood, the four-year-old Cassie’s home remedy was to get her all dressed up in her favourite pink dress. Cassie’s explanation to her confused mother was, “When you look good you feel good.” “I love the way that clothes can do that – they can just change a mood,” said Cassie.
Betsey Johnson, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Marjan Pejoski are just a few of the designers who inspire Cassie. New York Couture makes no room for the plain black Armani. “The more risks they take the more I like them, if you get bad press I’ll probably like you better because you’re taking a chance and that’s always harder.”

Cassie makes clothes to suit her mood, and uses the streets and clubs of New York as her impetus. Like an inspired artist who pummels away at her canvass, when Cassie gets an idea she grabs some fabric and starts to cut. “I usually don’t use patterns, I just make things out of the blue, and somehow it always works,” she said. Drawing from her high-school days her designs are not grounded in mainstream trends or social tastes. “If I like it then that’s all that matters,” she said. “And if it doesn’t sell I’m going to know.”

At the moment New York Couture prices are at the low-end of couture ranging from around $50 to $200 for a custom piece. Cassie sews most of the designs herself, and even completed a sewing class at the Fashion Institute of Technology to develop her natural talent. “I make my own clothes, so most of the time people will see me in something and ask me to make it.” A good portion of her less complicated designs are outsourced to a local factory.

Her growth in the past year has been “insane” she explains shaking her head in disbelief, her eyes again creasing into an infectious smile. Initially Cassie juggled both her job at Halston and her new line. She was buying fabric, making the clothing, shipping to stores, and doing the marketing. “I realized there were not enough hours in the day to do both, so I quit my job at Halston,” Cassie explained.

Her family rallied to support her picking up laundry, ordering business cards, and showing up to all her shows. When she first started, Cassie launched an aggressive marketing campaign organizing three fashion shows a month. She began promoting online and through word-of-mouth. “I believe that if you work hard you’ll be rewarded.” New York Couture is now sold in over 30 stores in the States, Canada, and Japan.

While Cassie’s mother is currently her “number one fan”, a diverse crowd of 20-something hipsters lined up outside Stereo to get a peek at her Spring collection. Her large Japanese fan base showed up wearing some of last season’s favourites, puffed sleeve t-shirts with vintage logos, and tweed gaucho pants. “I flew in [from Tokyo] for fashion week,” said Jennifer Inoue, 24. “I had to see the New York Couture show, it speaks to me.” A Jersey-native Erika Balcombe, 21 got her first taste of the line at the show, “Her stuff is really sexy, feminine and bold all at once,” she said. “I can’t wait to go shopping.”

“I don’t want to be sold ever in a major department store I think that’s too cliché,” said Cassie musing upon her plans for the future. Similar to her designs, Cassie is startlingly eclectic, displaying the composure and foresight of an erudite CEO, and the energy and style of a rock star. “Betsey Johnson has a line that I really dig,” she said. “But I think what’s wrong with her line is that you can get it anywhere.” In keeping with her ‘one-of-a-kind’ philosophy Cassie plans to sell her designs at choice retailers like Bergdorf Goodman’s, Patricia Fields, and Apollo Braun. Launching her own boutiques are another plan on the horizon, she plans to have exclusive locations in New York, Los Angles, London, and Japan.

Having enjoyed her new found fame so much, Cassie has still managed to remain grounded. Like any perfectionist she does have her moments of “self-doubt.” But then there are days when she struts onto the runway to take her bow, posing at the top to flaunt her Couture-original. Cameras flash in all directions amongst appreciative cheers and roaring applause, and Cassie basks in her weirdness.