Zero Maria Cornejo
The Label
This sleeper label has been winning shopping fans at its unassuming Nolita store since 1997. Zero Maria Cornejo has crafted a particular look that blends minimalism with highly technical tailoring which results in her signature curves and pintucks. With little fanfare and even less courting of the press, Zero Maria Cornejo has nevertheless garnered such high-profile, high-style fans as Tilda Swinton, Cindy Sherman, and Sofia Coppola. The designer has also collaborated on a line of shoes with Keds and is busy building an in-house accessories business.
The Look
Arty and high-minded clothes that lack pretension
The Designer
Born in Chile but raised in England, Cornejo attended Ravensbourne College of Design. Soon after, she designed the popular Richmond Cornejo line in the eighties with John Richmond and then moved on to French label Tehen in the mid-nineties. In between, she tangoed with her own label but didn’t really get it off the ground until she and photographer husband Mark Borthwick settled in New York in the late nineties. In 2006, Cornejo won the prestigious Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award.
