How New York Creatives Dress Up for New Year’s Eve

Photography by Roy Beeson

Styling by Derek Nguyen

Hair and makeup by Samantha Lau

Creatives and entrepreneurs are determined to break into the new year with positive mentalities and strong intentions to grow their businesses. Seeing as New York City is the hub of unique entrepreneurship, these five creatives are in the right place to continue expanding their companies. Check out some talent that will definitely make an impact in 2017.

Jen Rubio & Steph Korey, Away (awaytravel.com) founders

Rubio and Korey launched Away to provide users with affordable yet high-quality luggage that will allow them to travel seamlessly. Although the company just launched earlier this year, Rubio and Korey are opening their third office next fall and are planning for major growth in 2017.

How did you come up with the idea for Away?

Jen: My bag broke at an airport, and I was looking for something to replace it. I asked all of my friends what bag they recommended and there wasn’t one single consensus on a bag that was well designed and attractive, but also affordable.

Stephanie: Everyone told her, don’t get what I have.

Did your upbringing influence how you’ve shaped your company?

Jen: Growing up, the love for travel was instilled in me from a really young age. I have family all over the world; we’ve always traveled. Ever since my seventh birthday, it’s been instilled in me that experiences are better than things.

Stephanie: Same thing for me — my dad grew up in the Middle East and my mom grew up in Europe. We have family all over the world. My whole childhood there was a lot of travel to see family, and we loved it.

How would you both describe your style? Do you have any go-to work pieces that you throw on every day?

Jen: We tend to wear a lot of neutral colors. I think it’s a very New York thing to wear all black, and I do a shoe change at night. We’re always going from interviews to meetings to press to events, so just something that can work for everything.

Stephanie: We’re running around all day, so you will normally find me in sneakers!

Oliver Palazzo, executive chef of Loosie’s Kitchen

Palazzo, who hails from Ivory Coast and studied in France, brings his unique upbringing into the kitchen. As head chef at Loosie’s Kitchen, Palazzo, who loves to create, designed the menu for the Southern-style restaurant.

Do you have a favorite menu item or type of food to make?

French food. I have a background in French. I used to work in an amazing establishment in Paris, so I have all this French technique.

How do you bring your background — being from Ivory Coast and going to school in the south of France — to launching a successful career in the U.S.?

Well, it’s just the beginning, and I need to work more on my stuff to be more successful. I want to make the best restaurant in New York one day. I want to make a cookbook.

How would you describe your style?

I would say natural style — very easy. Sophisticated when you have to be. I love the Brooklyn style. I love the French style, so it depends. My style is simple, easy, and sophisticated.

Jennifer Chun, designer

Chun is a designer who worked for Michael Kors and Derek Lam among other prestigious names before launching her namesake brand, Jennifer Chun, in 2009. Her N.Y.-based womenswear brand cleverly mixes menswear-inspired pieces with more feminine, uniform styles.

Where are you from?

I was born in Daegu in South Korea. I moved around a lot. I was in South Korea for about a year, and we lived in L.A., Chicago, Detroit, and then we settled in Ohio.

Do you think living in so many different places has shaped and influenced your brand and how you create?

Absolutely. I think the most that’s influenced me was actually growing up in Ohio. Fashion doesn’t have a really big presence in Troy, Ohio. I grew up in a small town, farm community. But my parents had beautiful clothes that they brought back from Korea, and they were all custom-made and tailor made to them — fabrics chosen by their parents or by my mom. Growing up I was always influenced by that, and I would always shrink my dad’s sweaters or wear his shirts, or wear my mom’s skirts. But I would cut them shorter, so that had a huge influence.

How would you describe your style?

I would say it’s very uniform — more of a tomboy uniform. Very ’90s.

Do you have any go-to work pieces that you throw on every day?

Definitely. It’s always one of my T-shirts with a denim jacket, one of my pleated skirts, and oxfords. It’s easy.

Melanese Reed, designer

Reed is one half of I Waited for You, an eclectic, Brooklyn-based womenswear brand that was launched in 2011. Along with Charleston Pacius, Reed designs progressive pieces with understated feminist notes.

Where are you from originally?

Barbados.

Do you think that your background has shaped how you’ve built your brand?

Not necessarily. The thing that shaped it is actually the fact that I moved here, and I was around so many different facets of New York life. My sister is a sculptor, but she was also a makeup artist. She always brought me down to the garment district to get her clothing made, or she was teaching me how to sculpt. So doing things like that kind of helped me to build my brand.

What were some challenges you faced when you were starting out your career?

Money, which is still a challenge now, but also your network. Only because people don’t realize that even if you have the money, if you don’t have the network — that’s really what takes it to the next level. Someone has to say, “OK, I really see where you’re going with this brand. Let me introduce you to someone.”

How would you describe your style?

I want to say it’s eclectic, but there’s always some sort of classicism to it with some sort of twist — something unexpected like cowboy boots but paired with a suit. Right now I’m into pinstripes. We had a lot of that in our last collection. Also, anything that screams feminism but also isn’t too literal.