TWINKLE BY WENLAN

Wenlan Chia has established Twinkle as one of the bright new shining stars of American fashion. The sportswear collection is known for its whimsical take on feminine dressing -- with a dash of the exotic, dose of pop culture and sense of humor. The Twinkle signature is creative knitwear that she creates through combining clever calculations with her innate talent for design. Wenlan's computations transform chunky yarns into unexpected shapes such as tuxedo jackets, shrunken capelets and unique scarves as well as a range of sweaters. This affinity for and advanced application of knitting is also visible in her intarsia designs, a novel technique in which the pattern is integrated into the knit of the garment. Each season, Wenlan presents an animated knitwear story through her intarsia knits. In the beginning, Wenlan knitted for herself. She quickly discovered that she could not keep her designs in her closet for long. Both friends and strangers on the streets inquired about buying her unique creations. Realizing she was creating a desirable and saleable product, Wenlan launched Twinkle in fall 2000 with a collection of colorful and exuberant hand knit sweaters and accessories. Her success led to a sophomore collection which was a full ready to wear collection including knitwear, separates, coats, dresses and accessories. Twinkle made its runway debut at the Gen Art Fresh Faces Fashion Show in February 2002. This first collection received praise by both the New York Times who gave it "kudos" and Women's Wear Daily who called it a "bright spot" of fashion week. Since then, she has shown on the runway each season at Seventh on Sixth fashion week in Bryant Park. Wenlan has received well-deserved recognition from the fashion industry, winning major awards and nominations including the Onward Kashiyama New Design Prize in Tokyo; the Competition of Young Fashion Designers in Paris, and a nomination for the Fashion Group International Rising Star Awards as well as for the Vogue Fashion Fund Award in New York. Most recently, she was selected as of "Spring's Leading Ladies" -- a group of five notable designers -- by Vogue magazine. Wenlan graduated from the prestigious Taiwan University, receiving a degree in Sociology. Arriving in Manhattan 1991, she enrolled at New York University, from which she earned a degree in art history. While attending school, she worked at a downtown art gallery. Her foray into fashion began with a course at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied with needlepoint, a skill that became the foundation for her signature knits. Currently, the Twinkle collection is sold in over 120 major retailers such as Barneys New York, Bloomingdale's, Calypso and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York; American Rag, Curve and Elisa B. in Los Angeles; Beams, Mitsukoshi and Isetan in Tokyo. The collection retails from $180 to $800.