Brooklyn style: 3 local designers you should know

With New York Fashion Week in full swing, all eyes in the Big Apple are on style.

While most of the action is taking place at Lincoln Center and other venues around Manhattan (It boy Alexander Wang showed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during Februarys NYFW, but is back in Manhattan this time around), much of the design talent these days is coming out of Brooklyn.

Dont know the names Degen, David Hart and Stanmore yet? Well, you should: Theyre three designers, with very different aesthetics and brands, working out of Kings County and using their borough for inspiration, community and the creation of their collections.

David Harts menswear is truly for the modern gentleman.

My brand is really founded on this idea of nostalgia and modernism and futurism, says the Fort Greene-based designer. I take a lot of references from the past and update them in a new and modern way.

Case in point: His fall/winter 2014/15 collection, which contains a light-blue tuxedo jacket, slim-cut blazers in shades from burgundy to a mottled blue-gray, and a geek-chic cardigan. And, of course, Harts signature ties.

The FIT alum, who cut his teeth working for big names Anna Sui, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, began his solo foray with a neckwear line in 2009 (Think cool skinny ties with eye-catching prints made in interesting fabrics not traditional work ties), then expanded to a full menswear range in 2013.

Ive always loved ties, says Hart, 32. They are the one item that men have in their wardrobe that can allow them to express a little bit of their personality.

To create his collection, Hart leans on Brooklyn. He develops and creates his own textiles with small, family-run mills; his ties are all handmade in a Sunset Park factory and many of his vendors are local.

I love Brooklyn, he says. The energy really meshes with my work style and my personality. Before, when I was working in Manhattan, I was always working. Being in Brooklyn, I can separate myself from work because its such a neighborhood here.

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Brooklyn style: 3 local designers you should know