Brian Atwood grew up in a suburb of Chicago where he attended an all-boys Catholic school. Like many designers, his first exposure to fashion was via his mother’s wardrobe. He went on to study art and architecture at Southern Illinois University where he learned the basics of style, detail and elegance, then clothing design at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York, but not before staging his first fashion show in his front yard with several local buyers in the audience.
After graduation, he worked as a runway model in Europe, sketching high heels in his spare time. While in Milan, he visited all the design houses with a resume written by hand and his charisma. In the end, he succeeded in meeting and winning over Gianni Versace. In 1996, Atwood became the first American to work for Versace Milan, where he stayed for 7 years, creating for them the Versus line, then becoming the director of their accessories. Donatella says of Atwood: “Brian is amazing at injecting sheer femininity and sexiness into a static object like a shoe or a bag.”
In 2001, Atwood decided to start his own label. Since then, he has developed a cult following of women desiring longer, leaner, and sexier legs, without hurting their feet. Sparkling jewels, unexpected contrasts, luxury materials, elaborate skins, ultra long fringe, all go into his fantasy footwear. He was awarded the Swarovski’s Perry Ellis Award for Accessory Design by the CFDA in 2003.
