On the day before Fashion Week™ was set to explode onto the scene for another season, in a private loft just off the beaten path from the tents at Bryant Park, a new fashion event emerged into the spotlight. Expose NY debuted the first brand showcase geared toward the people deciding what brands get seen – stylists, fashion editors and writers. Though select buyers were indeed included in the exclusive invite list (member of buying teams from stores like Bloomingdales, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor and Jeffrey were in attendance), this show was all about allowing designers to get the chance to debut their Spring ’09 Collections face to face with the editors and stylists. Guests included editors and stylists from outlets such as WWD, W, California Apparel News, Italian Vogue, Lucky, Teen Vogue, Purple, Real Simple, Forbes, JC Report, Zink!, CosmoGirl, Seventeen, Sportswear International, Allure, VH1 and Instyle to name a few.

Expose, the brainchild of former fashion product placement and PR specialist Matt Meyerson, was developed to empower emerging designers to take self promotion into their own hands and get a jump start on the season. Each brand was hand selected to participate in the event and had to go through a rigorous selection process to be accepted to be a part of the debut showcase. “We had to turn away 50 brands to get a dozen amazing ones,” says Meyerson who also reflects that “we had to curate the show so that the diversity of contacts we have relationships with would all have something to come see and get excited about. We are talking about the busiest, and most wanted, people in fashion. If Expose brands weren’t hot and I wasted a bunch of people’s time the day before Fashion Week™ started, I would be dead in the water and wouldn’t be coming back to do it again for the Fall ’09 Collections in February.”

Expose showcased incredible designers from around the world who don’t normally have a voice during the bi-annual NY fashion festivities. From the hottest buzz designer in New York Levi Okunov to the goth couture musings of Shadows and Dust (Australia) to the sexy swimwear silhouettes of Le Doux (Brazil) to the classic and clean lines of Ana Pires (Italy) to the premium debut of Yansi Fugel’s TravelJersey Collection (NY) to the priceless yet funky jewelry and couture of House of Bastion (Florida) to the amazing hand crafted heels of Jerome Chouinard Rousseau (LA) to the iconic fashion sunglasses of Oliver Goldsmith (UK) to the airy elegance of award winning Yeojin Bae’s (Australia) vintage inspired dresses to the debut of hot new art inspired t-shirt line GoodLife and the edgy Lower East Side influenced Priestess NYC there was a style for every fashion palette. Also showcasing, and acting as charitable beneficiary at Expose, was Designers Against AIDS (www.designersagainstaids.com). DAA is an NGO based out of Belgium which is doing amazing things for AIDS prevention through awareness and educational programs involving venerable retailer H&M, the UN and celebrities like Rihanna, Timbaland and My Chemical Romance.

In addition to previewing the collections and meeting the designers, guests were able to sip signature cocktails from Basil Hayden’s (www.smallbatch.com), get purified water in their new stainless steel bottles from Watergeeks Laboratories (www.watergeeks.com), enjoy a music mix from some of best DJ’s in world by Moodswing 360, sample some amazing mini cupcakes from Babycakes NYC (www.babycakesnyc.com), drink some Ace Hard Cider or Robert Hall Wine and appreciate the custom floral arrangements from Stem NYC (www.stemnyc.com). Custom houndstooth totes were provided by B. Happy Bags (www.bhappybags.com) and printed by Print House Inc. (www.printhouse.org) for guests to carry their lookbooks in.