Posts Tagged ‘Serpico Collection’

Chicago Fashion: Serpico Collection

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Fashion often draws inspiration from architecture’s clean lines and structured silhouettes. Given Chicago’s architectural significance, it seems natural that local designers would be influenced by such construction when creating their own designs. For designer Melissa Serpico Kamhout, 33, architectural elements are a design constant that gives her clothing a serious aesthetic balanced with ladylike sophistication.

Melissa’s label, SERPICO, has garnered a reputation for its quality, tailoring and detail, which has helped it grow in Chicago and abroad. Earlier this year, she expanded from an industrial studio to a lovely studio-boutique space (shown above) in Wicker Park. Other retailers also carry her designs, such as Chicagoland boutiques Koros and Totem, a couple New York boutiques, and DNA, a boutique owned by Saudi Arabian princess Deena Abdulaziz. In addition, this month she traveled to Washington DC for a fitting with Amy Rule, Rahm Emanuel’s wife, who ordered a custom SERPICO gown for last week’s White House State Dinner. Melissa also designed Amy’s couture gown for the inauguration.

Clockwise from upper left: “Sargon” skirt, $360; “Ju” jacket, $725; Melissa in her boutique; “Dama” dress,
$1015; “Borgia” top, $345

The designer’s 14-item Fall/Winter ’09 collection—her 5^th collection so far—is no less impressive. Inspired by the romance and sensuality of baroque gardens in France and Italy, this season features a limited palette, including red, blush and black, on lux fabrics, like silk organza, stretch silk charmeuse, and Italian wool. The complete collection includes four dresses, five tops, a skirt, a blazer, a jacket, a pair of leggings, and a cropped trouser, all with a surprising complexity despite their simplicity. The lines are clean and the shapes organic, but nearly everything in her F/W collection has an unexpected, dynamic element. From a cut-out shoulder to an ornate neckline to all-over layered organza, each garment should be examined with 360-degree views.

Left: “Durieu” dress, $1100. Right: Fall ’08′s gray satin dress with ruffle detail, $650 (re-made for Fall ’09
due to its popularity)

A born-and-raised Chicagoan, Melissa received her Bachelor of Art Concentration in Visual Communication from Loyola University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Upon receiving her degrees, she built her fashion house here, rather than in a more fashion-oriented city. “There really were not any fashion jobs in Chicago that were a good fit for me, and I really wanted to keep working and creating as much I could. The fashion industry in Chicago was just starting to take shape. I wanted to help build it.”

As we continue to watch Chicago’s fashion industry grow, we look forward to SERPICO’s growth as well. Melissa’s immaculate craftsmanship, eye for design, and attention to detail has made her a designer to watch season after season, and we don’t see that changing any time soon.

1514 N Ashland Avenue; serpico-collection.com

By Meghan Turner

Photography by Chelcie S. Porter

Tags: Amy Rule, Chicago Boutiques, Chicago Designers, Chicago Fashion, Chicago Shopping, Deen Abdulaziz, DNA, Koros, Melissa Serpico Kamhout, Serpico Collection, Totem
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