Every once in a while, Martha International (475 Park Avenue at 58th Street) likes to have small fashion shows highlighting, says Martha’s Lynn Manulis, “fashion’s future stars.” This time, it was Jennifer Bawden. She’s a Canadian-born designer whose “sophisticated, sexy, but romantic” evening wear has appeared on several “Star Search” shows and on the covers of Cosmopolitan, New Woman and Elle.
At a party to benefit the pediatrics division at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, she showed a selection for holiday/Spring that included little velvet dresses with ripples bodices, floor-length animal print styles done in sequins, short elaborately beaded skirts with stretch body suits, silk shantung dresses trimmed in lace, and even a beaded silk and chiffon bolero/bell-bottom duo.
“These dresses are for a woman to keep in her closet for years,” says Bawden, who imagines anyone from 22 to 60 in them.
Prices range from $500 to $1,200, and the goods will be available at the store for the next three weeks, and by special order.