DESIGNER FREDERICK ANDERSON

`AFRICAN AMERICAN’ New York fashion designer Frederick Anderson chose an elegant, tri-level midtown mansion to show his epic new collection titled “African American.” A grand marble staircase led guests to the third floor where mannequins in information, on a long pedestal donned with huge Afro-wigs, were the focus of his presentation. Beautiful lace dresses, sheer chiffon tunics, gold and black metallics were spiced with unique jewelry.

Bold red and dramatic black as the color story formed the nucleus of the collection. UP CLOSE WITH FREDERICK Chatting with Frederick a few weeks after the launch, he revealed the significance of his presentation theme and dropped several gems along the way about his life, his creations and the state of the fashion industry in general. Happy with the new collection, which he said was like launching a new baby into the world, Frederick said it was designed for “women moving on, much like where I am now from where I’ve been.” I had to ask about the name of the collection “African American.” Frederick explained: “The first collection was called `Black Like Me.’ With what’s happening in the US now, I’ve never talked about race in the context of my life. I’ve never had that moment to say `Why is it to walk into a Palm Beach event and I feel, why are we (me and Susan Fales-Hill) the only two Blacks in the party? It’s more about, we just are not very vocal about being Black. This led me to the collection’s theme “African American.

MEMPHIS ROOTS Frederick was born in Memphis, Tennessee. “My Mom is mulatto she said we were Indian and Black, we were mulatto. Our country is so divided. The boxes we put people in in the USA are so enormous. We are now revising our attitude, the conversation has been avoided. We need to have the conversation. The 70s Afro – we called it. It’s ironic, we’re reaching to another country to affirm who we are. I am part of the American fiber – so that was important to talk about. I make honor to that.”

THE BEGINNING After attending North Carolina School of the Arts and New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Frederick teamed up with Douglas Hannant and created a company labeled Anderson Hannant. “We went to FIT together. I ran the company. I did a lot of things to grow the company.” He said that as great a designer Douglas was, he did not want to continue designing anymore. “I always wanted to spend some time in Europe, not just the US. The US market is a little confused, they have a different idea of what luxury is. In Europe they understand what luxury means, it’s more of a lifestyle there.”

The new collection is outstanding for obvious reasons. Frederick described it as “Slim, tailored and 70s inspired. The stereotypical idea of what Black women look like is changing, the way we look at race. I love that story, that’s the story I want to talk about now. We evolve to change.” We talked about the silhouette – “I want people to know, I love the idea of a tunic over pants. It’s the new evolution of how women should dress – couture fabrics – luxurious fabrics. That’s how I see women dress now, they want luxury.” Frederick admires the work of several other noted designers like Jean Paul Gaultier. “I love the messaging, his mixture of ethnic flavors, he takes you on a journey, that’s what I hope to do.” Frederick also admires the masters Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Thom Browne and Geoffrey Beene. “Geoffrey Beene was a mentor to us (referring to him and his former business partner Douglas Hannant) he took us to lunch. We’d walk the streets and watch the cool kids walk around. Looking at people who are trying to create their own identity, that’s the future.”

SOME HIGHLIGHTS Frederick talked about some of the nuances that made his “African American” collection pop. “The color story with the red. The blood, the sheer, the lace…I wanted to do like the tribes with lace that looks like a tattoo. My customer is adventurous, smart and strong and she doesn’t want a cluttered line. She doesn’t want a line that decorates her. I wanted to get away from the prettiness of clothing with 100% fabrics from Paris and Italy…I want to keep the line small and growing.”

THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX “People want to put a box around you. We’re inundated with too much information. They don’t have time to think about the box. To show the differentiation within our community, we have the opportunity to have different voices – stop talking about the struggles and talk about our accomplishments.” concluded Frederick.