Designer To Watch: Katie Ermilio
November 10, 2009 by Blair Edelman
Filed under News, W. Ready To Wear, Womens
While most college students return home on the weekends to do laundry, Katie Ermilio had some different business to attend to as she traveled to Philly from New York City. The still-NYU student was returning home not only for her family, but also for her clients.
Many will hear Katie’s family history and know she was destined to be a designer. Her grandfather dressed elites such as President Dwight D. Eisenhower and acted as Grace Kelly’s personal clothier. The design gene was passed down to her father, who owns a very successful custom-clothing business, but somehow Katie didn’t think she’d ever be a designer. She skirted around the fashion industry with non-design-related internships at Tracey Reese and Teen Vogue, still remaining hesitant that design was her calling.
However, if we fast forward a few years, Katie’s resume has changed drastically. In the last two years alone, she has dressed both Dancing With The Stars’ Julianne Hough and Entourage’s Autumn Reeser, won The Washington Post’s First Lady Formalwear design contest (out of over 200+ entries), and developed a gorgeous Spring/Summer collection for 2010. Katie’s fate seems to have finally caught up to her.
“My dad made it happen,” Katie explained to me. While studying abroad in London, she returned to her roots, comforting herself by sketching what would be some of her future Spring/Summer 2010 pieces. After designing a dress for an internship, Katie’s father put her creation at the front of his store. “People ended up wanting to buy the sample,” she said. “[After] women would come in wanting an evening gown and I would specialize it.” It was then that Katie developed a personalized unique couture side that had a lot of followers.
When Katie realized this was what she wanted to do, she promptly quit her internship at Teen Vogue (”an extremely difficult decision”) and was focused solely on design. She refers to her Spring/Summer 2010 collection as “retrospective.” The line consists of some new designs, some old designs and some pieces that just always sell very well to her private clients. “I think about things in terms of real life,” Katie says. “It [her clothing] has to be comfortable. It has to be something that can exist and function in the real world.” Bottom line: “I want them to want to wear the stuff,” she says with a laugh.
Katie’s own style is a very big influence on the way in which she markets her pieces. “I am not a ‘throwaway clothes’ kind of person,” she says. “I would rather buy one great pair of shoes [that] I love than 10 pairs I just like. I want my designs to be those quality pieces that people love and keep forever.” It is this idea that makes Katie’s classic line truly unique. You will never associate the word “trendy” with her collection; these clothes transcend ages and fads, which can explain why Katie’s customers range in age from 16-70. While the element of sexiness exists in each piece it is presented in a demure way. “Everything is very lady like.”
Her collection for the spring consists of very classic pieces all with some sort of unique accent. There is the show-stopping sleeveless red sheath dress with ruffle detailing at the top and outward pleating at the bottom, the long black boat-necked gown that looks to be a modern take on Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s dress, and the bright blue shorts suit paired with a high-neck sheer blouse with bow detailing, just to name a few. As beautiful as these pieces are, they still retain that easy-to-wear element. I could just picture throwing on her white cowl-necked romper with a pair of sandals, looking effortlessly chic in five minutes flat. Katie describes her own go-to style as her own pants (pictured below) with a white tee, necklace and flats.
While all of us are currently in winter 2009 mode and thinking ahead just to spring 2010, Katie is hard at work on her winter 2010 line, which will debut in a few months. She notes in this collection, we are going to see a lot of masculine mixed with feminine: think strong bomber jackets paired with little chiffon dresses. She noted that there is a strong menswear influence in all her collections that stems from watching her father create his clothing. “Even though all my clothing is soft and feminine, if you look closely, there is always some sort of menswear accent.”
Katie notes that she doesn’t want to do anything prematurely, but eventually she would like to see her clothing more readily available to women in high-end niche stores like Jeffrey. When that time comes, she vows to continue to keep a few private clients. “I want to keep the couture element alive. It [the private clientele] is going straight to the source.”
For now, customers can purchase sample pieces from her website or visit her studio to create something custom. At just 24, she has come a long way in her career so far and we know we will keep seeing great things from Katie in the future. Look out for a preview of her winter 2010 collection in just a few months!
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