Peter Som - Spring 09

In the weeks of January leading up to Fashion Week, Peter Som, whose shows lured in the likes of Anna Wintour and André Leon Talley, cancelled his autumn 2009 catwalk show, due to financial backing from Creative Design Studios falling through. This subsequently led to Som resigning later that year.

The American designer, who describes his aesthetic as one of “effortless elegance and refined sexiness”, is now, months later, in a very different position. Som, who signed a licensing deal with an Italian company this May, is now able to produce and manufacture his line. We’ll look forward to his spring 2010 collection in a presentation at Milk Studios.

Although Som has managed to keep his label intact throughout the downturn, he ponders over the economic challenges the fashion industry still faces in an interview with The Cut: “For fall that was the depths of the recession, where there was no visibility for anybody — I don’t care who you are. Stores were going out of business left and right, no one was shopping,” Som says. “Hopefully we’ll get back to some semblance of normalcy. Nothing’s normal anymore.”