On the outskirts of Brooklyn, away from the bars and boutiques there is a place where the desire to be hip isn’t so concentrated. The buzz of twenty-somethings having fun is replaced by the buzz of productivity. This faraway, mythical sounding land called the Brooklyn Naval Yard is where I met The Twentyten. A delightful trio of designers who turned their college projects into a thriving fashion label.

The Twentyten is made up of Nina Zilka, Jeff Dodd, and David J. Krause, who met in design school at the Pratt Institute. Each designer took a separate path to lead to their collective future. Nina found her ability to express herself through design during her time at the early college program at Art Institute of Chicago. David saw his future in fine arts, painting to be exact, however creating beauty without function proved to be unfulfilling, so he turned to fashion. Jeff was at work as a window designer for Ralph Lauren, when he began to want to make the clothes instead of dressing the manikins in them.

Once they were together at design school at Pratt the trio came together as a design collective and put together a website which showcased each of their individual projects. Eventually they decided to do a collection together and much to their happy surprised retailers started placing orders right away. It became obvious that their design magic was already working when fashion journalism giant Women’s Wear Daily showed up to see their second collection. This pushed them to create and produce their work on a professional level.  “At first it was just like a project,” explains David, “but then we were like, ‘we can actually make this a business. This can be our career.’”

With their fifth collection out next fall, The Twentyten’s clothing has come to elicit a dynamic I can only describe as a modern insanity contrasted with spurts of deep relief. Looking at the collections I feel a nervous energy of impatience and the comfort of a deep sigh. Many strong images are conjured up including, the night sky, someone trapped, and someone running free. And yet, with all these different ideas happening at once, the clothes remain completely wearable. This aesthetic is the sum of its three parts. Nina explains the three separate aesthetics that came to form The Twentyten, “David and I had more of a vintage-y feel and being a girl I always thought about how I would wear things. Jeff and David being more avant-garde and structural it was a really good combination together to find how we could tone it down so people could wear them, but still keep it weird and interesting.” But as they grow together as a label all the designing is done as a team effort.

Their design philosophy is to up hold their tendency towards artistic and avant-garde clothing, but in a way that maintains wearability and comfort. The desired effect is a look that makes the client feel confident and unique while being comfortable and looking put together. The Twentyten strives to be morally responsible as well, meaning they make eco- consciousness a part of their mission by using sustainable materials. They utilize fabrics such as knits from bamboo and soy blends, which uphold both ideas of comfort and sustainability. They also work to take the wastefulness out of fashion and create “wise fashion.”

Normally Nina, Jeff, and David say their inspiration is a feeling that they all agree on. This feeling can be found in a particular shape that they are interested in or color that has caught their eyes, or a certain fabric they all may be curious to work with. However, for spring/summer 2011 the group came up with a fictional character called Margo and used her story to help them create. Margo was once a wealthy and sophisticated older woman, unfortunately bad luck strikes and she loses all of her money and along with that goes her mind. This turn of misfortune sends her out of her mansion and into to an insane asylum. The clothes tell her story in their prints, colors, and details. There is evidence of the angst of being trapped in the strap details reminiscent of straight jackets. Tons of little tucks add to the feeling of inner mayhem. Contrasting this are flowing blouses and wide legged pants, whose looseness mimic the whimsy and innocence of someone with no mental control. The featured print is a black knit that was splashed with bleach, “Like a crazy person was trying to clean and ruined their clothes,” David explains. He adds, “It was what would a wealthy, waspy, well-to-do woman wear and then how do we make as if she went insane?”

The Twentyten is pushing the envelope outside of what they create clothing wise. They are using technology to help bring Margo’s story, as well as their other collections to life. On their website you can check out their video look book. This progressive tool allows them to showcase how the clothes move on a body. It also allows for an outsider to interpret their work and show it in a new light.

This group shoots for the stars literally, their list of ideal clients includes Rihanna, Julianne Moore, and Tilda Swinton-who they are admittedly obsessed with. But Grace Jones would probably be their number one; they “still love her.”

The Twentyten is available for purchase on their website, as well as various stores in New York City.