New York, NY. February 2012. This February 8th ASTONISH Magazine, a publication dedicated to covering the zeitgeist of Fashion & Art, launched their second issue: “Outer Beauty,” and hosted a Fashion Show featuring Ken Chen S.F. at W.i.P. in Tribeca.

Designer Ken Chen SF made waves and gained an international following for his debut collection in 2011, while still studying at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and now he takes the New York Fashion Week by storm with a nearly 50 look collection for men and women. Born in Taiwan and once competing internationally in Taiwan and Singapore as a Gold Medaling figure skater, Ken Chen has always been a driven, determined artist. His designs focus on the balance of humanity, nature and the architecture of the man-made world.

The new collection emphasizes fit, with strong shoulders, accentuated waists and lots of shapes and variation in the jackets. The observant viewer of his collection will also notice understated floral details: he watched many time-elapsed videos of plants growing to inspire the movement and detailing of his pieces.

Featuring luxurious fabrics such as wool, cashmere, silk charmeuse, real and faux fur and lots of leather, Ken Chen’s pieces are designed to bring out the sexy, powerful and strong individual in his clientele. International make-up artist Leora Edut created the subtle and glamorous look for the show. "The inspiration was fresh faced beauty. We went for very neutrals on the eyes, lips, and cheeks.

For a few of the models we popped the most very natural of lashes on which looked as if the model had no lashes. The look was created to keep the focus on the clothes but not forget that there was a beautiful model wearing it!"

Photo Credit: Bailey Harada Stone