B Michael: Glamour in Simplicity
Photo below: B Michael on the runway, Spring 2005.
Photo by Javier Mateo

Right from the start, B Michael was fated to be a fashion designer. Growing up in Durham, Connecticut, he found early inspirations in his mother, whose family extends back four generations and consists of Portuguese, Irish and German heritage.

Her creativity and keen sense of style passed on to her son, and like his eclectic family tree, B Michael incorporates the fantastic with understated cool, sensational color with elegance and emotion with design.

A graduate of the University of Connecticut and a former account executive for a Wall Street firm, B Michael decided to pursue his creative side and launched a successful millinery line after designing for Oscar de La Renta and Louis Feraud among other.

The designer launched his first couture collection in 1999 and, as with his approach to millinery, his designs exuded a glamourous clean aesthetic.

His juxtaposition of creativity with simpliciy is exmplified by the kaleidoscope dress (from the Spring 2004 collection), which was sewn together from fourteen fabrics, consisting of fifty pieces.

Particular to B Michael, he heightens his couture aesthetic by infusing emotions such as joy, adding a discernable feeling and festive mood to his creations.

The designer describes his signature style, "It is a modern approach to glamour. It is also about achieving a very sophisticated, yet simplistic look. A woman who wears b michael knows how to wear a basic dress and make it look glamourous."

His collections has garnered appreciative fans including socialites and personalities such as Susan Fales-Hill, Dayssi Olarte, Nancy Wilson and Lena Horne.

His designs have been featured editorially on Halle Berry and Cate Blanchett.

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams have been spotted sitting front-row at his runway shows wearing b michael clothes.

But B Michael is not just a nine to five o'clock designer. He's a consumate entertainer, an avid collector of vintage books, artifacts and photography, which can be seen throughout his Harlem home.

His dinner parties are much spoken about - from engaging conversations to the table setting to floral arrangements.

B Michael is no homebody either; you might find him in some of New York's trendiest spot.

In 1999, B Michael became a member of the CFDA, and in February 2003, the designer partnered with Wayne Demar to form DM Fashion Group, a company dedicated to marketing and furthering the b michael brand.

Always willing to take on new challenges, he is a guest lecturer at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and serves on several charitable advisory boards, including New Yorkers For Children and Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.

He has shown his collection twice in Beijing, China. He has recently signed a handbag licensee to debut in Spring 2004. He also the Fashion Director for one of the country's sportswear collections, Hailves. //(Courtesy of b michael)

Spring 2005 (Photo by Javier Mateo)

Fall 2005 (Photo by Javier Mateo)

Backstage:

Address:
B.MICHAEL
202 W. 40th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Buyers Contact for
B MICHAEL
Contact: Wayne Demar
Tel: 212-703-9494
Fax: 212-703-9965

Press Contact for
B MICHAEL:
COMPANY AGENDA
648 Broadway #705
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212-358-9516
Fax: 212-358-9523