Jené Stefaniak has been a fixture at New York and London Fashion Week for a decade, helping other designers perfect their looks. But for this year's New York Men's Day she's presenting her own new label. It’s called Feign, and her boyfriend, Jon James, is also her co-creator.
The couple was a last minute addition, so that added to the pressure.
"We just figured out we were doing this six weeks ago so we really kind of wanted to go above and beyond to prove ourselves since we're new on the scene," Stefaniak said.
"From there it was just a frenzy of, like, drawing, and drawing, and drawing and doing the print designs to keep it all rolling," James added.
The collection, inspired by environmental activism, was made in their New York studio and was designed to be gender neutral.
"We wanted to do a genderless line because, when we put our closets together, it was all, like, this uniform man-to-women closet,” James said. “We were starting to wear each other's clothes here and there, so we thought it would be awesome. And also for social reasons because we really believe that people should be defined by who they are and who they feel like they are."
More than a dozen emerging and experimental labels presented their looks throughout the day at Hudson Yards, along with some better known designers like David Hart and Timo Weiland.
New York Men's Day started in 2014 to give designers an opportunity to get industry buzz without the cost and commitment of a full runway show during Fashion Week. It was all the brainchild of founder Erin Hawker.
"We pull together hair and makeup, footwear, security, cleaning—every sort of element that goes into a runway show—and make it all seamless and easy for them," Hawker said.
Of course, putting a fashion show together is always going to be stressful, but for the fashionistas here it's pretty laid back. All the shows are presentations, so you don't have to clamor for a front row seat. Everyone's got a great view.
And most of the time, if there are snags behind the scenes, those in attendance have no idea.
In fact, during the show, James and Stefaniak lost track of which models were supposed to wear what—just another great reason to have a gender neutral line!