Alpana Bawa's work is driven by a lifelong love of color. Growing up in India, she was surrounded by vibrant patterns and bold hues that continue to shape her instinctive, celebratory aesthetic—where cool tones meet hot, and bright pinks, yellows, turquoise, and orange come together in harmony. Born in New Delhi, Alpana moved to New York in 1983 to study design and opened her Manhattan store in 1989. She continues to work between New York and New Delhi, designing in the U.S. while regularly returning to India to collaborate with and oversee her workshop. Bawa creates clothing for women and men, as well as home goods, all hand-assembled and embroidered by skilled artisans. A strong advocate for ethical labor practices, environmental responsibility, and the empowerment of women in the clothing industry, Bawa's work reflects both cultural richness and conscious design. alpanabawa.com

Judith Hoyt has worked with found metal and paper collage for over four decades, creating richly layered pieces shaped by time, material, and process. Born in 1958 in the Catskill Mountains of New York, she began studying art at age fifteen at Art Awareness in Lexington and later earned a BFA in Printmaking from SUNY New Paltz. Limited access to a printing press after graduation led her toward collage and found materials, and she later studied metalsmithing with Robert Ebendorf before adding encaustic to her practice. Hoyt's work emerges from an intuitive dialogue with materials that are discolored, corroded, and altered by history. Through careful arrangement, these fragments are transformed into cohesive compositions that carry both memory and meaning. Her work is held in major museum collections, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Racine Art Museum. judithhoyt.net

Sophi Kravitz is an artist and electrical engineer whose work translates invisible phenomena into immersive experiences of light, sound, and story. Through custom-built hardware and software, they create responsive sculptures informed by cosmic rays, biological signals, and environmental data. A recurring focus of Kravitz's practice is hair—its cultural meanings, from historical symbols and fashion to loss, disguise, and transformation. Hair, for Kravitz, is a powerful marker of identity. In Wearable Art: Head to Toe, Kravitz presents sculptural headpieces that blend hair, light, and sensors, celebrating individuality while challenging traditional beauty standards. Their work has been exhibited at more than 50 festivals and venues, including the Shenzhen–Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale, Burning Man, and ArtPrize. A 2026 NYSCA Support for Artists grant recipient, Kravitz lives and works in Kingston, NY. sophikravitz.com

Seán Nixon is an artist and professor of art at SUNY Ulster who creates his own textile patterns, bringing together color, pattern, and storytelling through intuitive, playful design. Inspired by mandala forms, his prints explore themes of growth, healing, and transformation. The narrative continues with the wearer—each garment is meant to be lived in, moved in, and activated, transforming fabric into a living story. Nixon's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Unison Arts and The Lace Mill, with group exhibitions at Muroff-Kotler Gallery, WAAM, Roos Gallery, and New York City venues including Rivington Gallery, Arts Brookfield at Battery Park, and the New Museum through the ART PAC-KIT collaborative. All garments are hand-sewn in upstate New York using minimal-waste practices, reflecting care for both people and the planet. seannixondesigns.com | @seannixondesigns

Debra Rapoport is a New York City based artist and style icon known for creating and wearing bold, sculptural fashion made from recycled and found materials. She studied textile design at UC Berkeley under Ed Rossbach, a pioneer of the American fiber arts movement, who championed her early work. Rapoport later taught costume craft and textile arts as an associate professor of design at the University of California. Her work is less fashion than manifesto. Using her body as an armature, Rapoport assembles, builds, and constructs striking forms—boas, bibs, and breastplates—primarily from materials gathered on New York City streets. Celebrated for her fearless use of color, texture, and scale, she has modeled for major labels including H&M and appears in Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style books and film. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. @debrarapoport

Anne Marika Verploegh Chassé (AMVC) is a shoemaker, artist, and educator from Switzerland and the Netherlands. In her Brooklyn atelier, STIEFELwerk—meaning "bootwork"—she designs and constructs made-to-measure footwear for individual clients, combining traditional techniques with her fine arts sensibility. Fascinated by the physicality of making and the challenge of uniting design, mathematics, ergonomics, and artistry, AMVC has trained with master craftsmen around the world to refine her craft. Her work is characterized by bold lines and curves, hand-stitched details, multicolored rows of thread, and leather surfaces marked by natural textures. Collaborations with other artists and designers continually inspire her practice. In addition to her atelier work, she teaches footwear design and construction at Rhode Island School of Design, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Parsons School of Design, sharing her knowledge and passion with the next generation of makers. stiefelwerk.nyc