A Princess from New York
Launched in spring/summer 2008, Princess of the Posse is a New York City-based label, flaunting minimal designs and striking graphics, merging street wear and high fashion.
Launched in spring/summer 2008, Princess of the Posse is a New York City-based label, flaunting minimal designs and striking graphics, merging street wear and high fashion. Princess of the Posse features basic and wearable pieces that easily can be dressed up or down as the wearer chooses. Heather gray leggings with bowtie print, negative graphic T-shirts, oversized tanks, cute boy tees, “Paid in NY” light-weight sweatshirts, and the label’s signature No.1 rompers. Black, white, and gray are the main palettes with some eye-popping red in between the spring/summer ’09 collection. Mixing grace and simplicity, airiness and edge, P.O.P. catches the attention of not only savvy fashionistas but of various magazines such as M.I.S.S., XLR8R, Missbehave, Highsnobette, The Clones, and even made the cover of Australian publication Acclaim.
Designer Kelly B. created P.O.P. with help from her partner Peter “Pistol” R. Castro. While Kelly B. graduated from F.I.T., she admits that she is not a technically trained designer. Her background is, well, rather diverse, in retail store display, merchandising, styling, and concept design.
“I really consider myself more of a stylist than a ‘fashion designer,’” Kelly B. says.
The creative process behind P.O.P. is a two-people collaboration between Kelly B. and Castro. Usually the duo brainstorms and conceptualizes together. Castro takes care of the physical graphics while Kelly B. concentrates on fabrics and silhouettes.
“Years of dressing mannequins definitely helped me define my style for dressing actual people,” Kelly B. says.
Originally from Albany, Kelly B. moved to New York City in 1997. Ever since then, the City has been her major source of inspiration. But, of course, muses are everywhere for a fashion designer, or in Kelly B.’s case, a stylist.
“Film, architecture, music, a crack in the sidewalk. The list goes on and on,” Kelly B. says. “I see things every day that inspire me.”
Yes, for example, the uptown streets, while a few years back, Kelly B. might not have thought the same way as she does now. When asked which area is the most chic in New York, Kelly B. thinks of SoHo right away, but changes her mind on second thought.
“I moved to Harlem, near Washington Heights almost three years ago from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the raw, original style on the streets up here. Immediately I thought, ‘Ahhh, this is where a lot of these trends are starting,’” Kelly B. says. “I love Brooklyn, but the styles there were becoming so bland and played-out like everyone was copying each other.”
A nonconformist, Kelly B. certainly does not want to be a copycat when it comes to personal style, or when it comes to designing a collection for P.O.P. The focus of the label, Kelly B. says, is really on quality, not quantity.
“If every season has only four pieces that’s totally fine with us,” Kelly B. says. “At one point we started feeling the pressure to do more, then we came back to our senses like, ‘Eff that. We are doing this how we want to do it,’ and for us four is plenty. I see a lot of unnecessary ‘filler’ styles in people’s collections, and I’m not going to go that route. It’s like an album with 15 tracks and maybe four good ones. Well, I’d rather have the whole album be hot, even if it’s short.”
Indeed, something short and sweet is almost always appreciated. Judging from the popularity P.O.P. is having with its avid fans, especially with the Locas Tee, an oversized tee featuring “Those Girls from Echo Park,” and the No.1 Tee, both the most requested pieces out of all the P.O.P. collections, it seems like the label will continue to have yet another exciting year ahead as Kelly B. rocks her favorite daily outfit, be it some super high-waisted skinny jeans, a body suit underneath or a vintage top, and her white lace-up boots, plus big earrings, or just simply a loose-fitting one piece, all the while keeping it real as a full-time mom and a designing/styling princess of her posse.
(Photo credit: Princess of the Posse)
