UNIFORM | Serena da Conceição

Photos by Simons Finnerty.

When taking intermissions from eating fried oysters with Tomboy Style photo correspondant Simons Finnerty in Charleston last weekend, the Fashion Week festivities provided plenty of blogger fodder. With almost every city hosting their own fashion week these days, Charleston Fashion Week (#CHSFW) acutely differentiates itself as fashion week's farm league. They make a point to showcase unknown talent and emerging designers from all over the country with hopes of getting scouted by the big leagues (#NYFW). There's too many emerging designers of note to recap here, but there is one I'd like to call to attention: Brooklyn-based Brazilian designer Serena da Conceição. I sat down with her for a few minutes and she immediately captivated me when talking about who she was designing for. While it's not a square fit for Tomboy Style per sé, I was intrigued by her desire to bring powerful femininity into contemporary workwear. "I create pieces for powerful and competitive businesswomen," Conceição said, and yet there is not a single power suit on offer in her collection. I dig.

For a recap on CHSFW's People's Choice Winner and Emerging Design Winner, Afriyie Poku, (this guy has a bright future in menswear), check out Simons' post here.