Open Call at Henri Bendel Attracts Young Designers

ook what the “open see” dragged in. This year, a casting call for young designers to sell their wares to the buyers at Henri Bendel (a tradition started in the 1960s) has attracted some interesting characters. Lines formed outside the New York store at 11 p.m. on Sunday night for the 9 a.m. Monday morning event. A few lucky ones—a Parsons student with a passion for hair accessories, a 13-year-old who played hooky for a chance to sell her baubles—were invited back for official appointments. Others, however, were told politely to pack their clothes and go. According to the New York Times, “Flocks of designers bearing feathered creations were informed, in polite but firm terms, that avian looks were last season.”