Emerging designer Christine Rhee is something of an iconoclast. Take CRHEE, the name of her nascent womenswear label; it comes from the Ohio-born former architect's desire to create a moniker that was both her own and something entirely new. Kind of like the classic but unconventional pieces in her Fall 2008 collection, "Isolator."

"The inspiration was really a mix of many different things—the story of the Little Prince and the idea of being alien to something and trying to see clothes with new eyes," she explains. "I was also inspired by my parents' house in Ohio. They live right next to these woods and they always have at least five or six deer in their backyard, kind of like the movie, 'Badlands.'" Other flicks like "Wings of Desire" and "Blade Runner," and the style of rock musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, and Echo and the Bunnymen, played a small part in shaping her debut collection as well.

"In terms of muses, I owe a lot of my aesthetic to my older sister," Rhee admits. "So whenever I look at my work, she's the only person who I can think of who would wear everything. For this collection, though, I would love to see Daryl Hannah wearing the clothes. I feel like the thing with the CRHEE lady is that she's multi-layered and doesn't like to be labeled or pigeonholed. She's a bit rebellious and definitely an individual."

To find out more or shop online please visit www.crhee.com.

- Caroline Stanley

Similar Topics:fall 2008, Fresh Faces 2008

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