Markus Lupfer Wants to Give America Sparkle

Not so many of the epiphanies of a young talented designer garner notice from straight-talking fashion journalist Sarah Mower, but that’s just the case of London-based, German-born Markus Lupfer. Taking an experimental approach to sequined embroidery, Lupfer’s “been very clever in making his sequined sweaters an item with a bit of a cult following that draws followers from a really surprisingly broad customer base,” explains Mower. Lupfer himself describes developing the idea as “one of those Eureka! moments,” experienced while he was in New York last year.

“It suddenly occurred to me it could be great to develop a knitted T-shirt with some humor, some fun detail. I sent some images to my manufacturer and asked them to use sequins instead of prints.” It’s an idea which has moved the Lupfer label a long way—a sold out launch in Selfridges earlier this year, Colette in Paris, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and, for the first time for Spring/Summer 2010, Intermix in the United States. “Intermix came to see us in the Paris showroom. They loved the collection, especially some of the nautical stripes we have used to toughen up our embellished knit signature for the new season,” says Lupfer. It’s a prick on the American fashion conscousness that the designer is making great efforts to grow. “America is a very important market to us. They seem to like the Markus Lupfer women—sometimes a little preppy and sometimes a touch renegade.” With a strong, multi cultural design background—design director at Spanish fashion house, Armand Basi, consultancy projects with Ruffo, Cacharel and Mulberry and an inevitable devoted celebrity following—America looks set to just be another notch on his belt.