Designer update

yara flinn shines on

June 20, 2008  3:30 pm

Yara Flinn is not afraid of taffeta. “It’s got that bridesmaid connotation,” the Nomia designer acknowledges, “but if you step away from that, you know, it’s shiny and a little hard. You can do really directional things with taffeta.” Taffeta pieces form a large part of Nomia’s small Fall ‘08 collection, and though her seasonless cocktail dresses in the fabric might not look out of place at a wedding, a motorcycle-inspired short-sleeve taffeta jacket sends a decidedly different message. “I’m always trying to
find ways to subvert the femininity of my pieces,” says Flinn, an ex-art student and former staffer at the Fondazione Prada who cut her fashion teeth at United Bamboo. For her next collection, which will be her fifth, she’s looking forward both to adding more separates and to pushing the tomboyishness of her vision. “I’m thinking about indulging my Helmut Lang obsession,” she muses. “He liked shiny, too. But I don’t think he ever used taffeta.”