Profile

Conveniently named Brooklyn designer Brookelynn Starnes debuted her own line, Cloak & Dagger, in 2006. A graduate of the Pratt Institute and a former designer for punk-chic label Libertine, Starnes focuses on refined but playful cuts and rich fabrics: high-waisted pencil skirts, gauzy floral blouses, sleek cotton and wool belted dresses, versatile trenches, and understated rompers. She opened her first stand-alone store in the East Village in April 2009, decking the rear wall with demure floral wallpaper and filling the racks with variations on the current season’s collection, experimenting with different colors and prints. (A section devoted to the previous season’s wares is up to 40 percent off.) The store is frequented by a fashion-savvy downtown set hunting for high-quality work-to-weekend pieces, like Starnes’s slim tailored jackets, elegant silk tops, subtly sexy shirtdresses, and curve-hugging skirts. — Lauren Murrow