EMERGING DESIGNER

Dean John

IN THIS FEATURE: Meet Dean John Fashion Focus

ean John has a unique and colorful sense of style and design. He has created a tailored fit to his dresses and uses a mixture of prints and vibrant colors to construct his gorgeous designs. He is a depot of fashion.

Dean John, fashion designer was born and raised in the bustling, fashion forward, city of New York. Dean showed signs of talent at a very early age. By the time he was sixteen he rose above all the negativity he believed was a part of the big city and started concentrating on fashion and music. It was then that he began fashioning his own clothes with bleach and a pair of scissors. His creations received many compliments and inquiries. Dean felt he was definitely on to something since people wanted to buy his designs.

His first experience with the fashion business consisted of selling tie-dyed T-shirts and bleached cut-up jeans. Dean decided he wanted to expand his talents to design dresses and since he was a self taught fashion designer, he had to work very hard to master the fit of a dress. He always admired dresses made of fine fabrics. His biggest influences were Betsey Johnson and Patricia Fields. At the age of 24, Dean learned how to operate a sewing machine under the tutelage of his grandmother. At the same time, he began trying to make dresses, and it took him a year of trial and error before he started sewing wonderfully tailored pieces that had that “one-of-a-kind” fit that women adore.

Coincidentally, Dean modeled for Source Magazine and did a few runway shows for other up-and-coming designers before pursuing his own career in fashion design. But once he started, his designs quickly got attention and were worn by television reporter, Penny Chrone on Fox Five morning news. Dean John also participated in a Charity Fashion Event, Runway 21 to benefit Breast Cancer research. Among the twelve other designers attending the show, Dean’s garments were the only dresses bid on and sold at the event, which was a true testament to his talent. Dean has also held successful fashion shows at the China Club, NYC, Club Touch, NYC and Hunter College and plans to do many more.