Behnaz Sarafpour (born 1969) is an Iranian-born American fashion designer, and fragrance designer. She had a ready-to-wear line of women's apparel bearing her name, Behnaz Sarafpour, Ltd. from 2001 until 2014, and has her own perfume line. Sarafpour has held design positions at

Isaac Mizrahi Isaac Mizrahi (born October 14, 1961) is an American fashion designer, actor, singer, television presenter and chief designer of the Isaac Mizrahi brand for Xcel Brands. Based in New York City, he is best known for his eponymous fashion lines. M ...

, Narciso Rodriguez, Richard Tyler, Anne Klein, and

Barneys New York Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks F ...

. She has been based in New York City and

Pound Ridge Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,082 at the 2020 census. The town is located toward the eastern end of the county, bordered to the north and east by the town of Lewisboro, by Stamford, C ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Early life and education

Sarafpour was born in 1969 in Tehran, Iran and was raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. She attended

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

(BFA 1992), where she was honored with the Golden Thimble Award. She interned at Anne Klein, studying under

Narciso Rodriguez Narciso Jesus Rodriguez III (; born January 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer. Early life and education Rodriguez was born in Newark, New Jersey, the eldest child and only son of Cuban parents. His parents, Narciso Rodríguez Sanchez II, ...

and Richard Tyler. Sarafpour's aesthetic is a layered look, often in the colors black, white, shades of grey, and metallics, and she likes a hand–dyed or hand-painted fabric. She likes to experiment with fabrics.

Career

After graduation she designed for

from 1994 to 1998. She later became a womenswear designer for the Barneys New York private apparel label from 1998 to 2003. In 2001, she founded her own label, and first sold it at Barneys New York. In 2002, Sarafpour had her first runway show at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

, sponsored by Style.com. Other runway sponsors have included Moët & Chandon, Hewlett-Packard,

Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef & Arpels is a French luxury jewelry company. It was founded in 1896 by the Dutch diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. Their pieces often feature flowers, animals and fairies. History The ...

, and Tiffany & Co. Her Spring 2005 sponsor, Tiffany & Co., allowed her to present the collection at the jewelry company's 5th Avenue flagship store. In November 2006, Sarafpour designed a collection of clothing and accessories for

Target Corporation Target Corporation is an American retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States, and a component of th ...

Go International Go International is a Target Corporation store brand that focuses on affordable apparel and accessories for women. Each season is created by a different designer who is already well known for their high-end collections and is only available for 90 ...

. Sarafpour also minted a limited-edition lipstick for Lancôme and jeans for Scott Morrison's Earnest Sewn collection. Sarafpour is a member of

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessor ...

(CFDA). She has been nomination for the CFDA Swarovski/Perry Ellis Award for ready to wear apparel in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2013, she was awarded the Cooper Hewitt,

National Design Award The American National Design Awards, founded in 2000, are various awards funded and bestowed by the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. There are seven official design categories, and three additional awards when applicable. Any supplement ...

in fashion. In 2007, Sarafpour was one of five designers whose work was chosen to feature in the

Sportswear Sportswear or activewear is athletic clothing, including footwear, worn for sports activity or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical spor ...

section of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London's ''New York Fashion Now'' exhibition. Sarafpour was honored at the White House in July 2010 as a finalist of the Smithsonian's National Design Award in the fashion design category.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarafpour, Behnaz American fashion designers American women fashion designers Iranian fashion designers Iranian women fashion designers Fashion designers from New York City Living people 21st-century American women 1969 births Parsons School of Design alumni Artists from Philadelphia Iranian emigrants to the United States People from Pound Ridge, New York

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

External links