TEXT Daniel Butenschøn		DIZONFRISÉ
Leather purses by Melanie Dizon		In grade school, the energetic Melanie Dizon began to make her own clothes and wear them around. Then, her futurist, Bladerunner-chic, soft textured creations, and what the Pratt graduate calls the inherent architecture of her designs, had total strangers begging her to make more. “Small crowds would santer up to me on the street, both total oddballs and kings of hip,” Dizon says. “It seems my designs attract every possible kind of person. And just so you know, I think that’s a good thing.” Her first flirt with fashion fame was with hats, with clients like Patricia Fields, Zona in Soho and Barney’s NY. Her latest and most agressive push, however, is a line of scintillatingly fresh leather purses, exclusively available at Totem. Fusing utilitarianism with design sensibility and sensuality, the purses express a woman’s character through what contains it. “The secret is leather – it really is the hottest material out there. Regardless of how you wear it, it makes you look better, and working with it is so gratifying.” She calls it remembering the primal and transforming it into luxury.
Copyright © 2004 Totem Media, Inc.