Charleston Fashion Week^® proudly announces Antonio Azzuolo will join as a featured designer and a fashion panel member at CFW 2013 (March 19-23). Azzuolo, a 2011 CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund finalist and 2012 CFDA Swarovski Award for Menswear nominee, will present his Spring Summer 2013 collection, a.a. antonio azzuolo. He joins Fern Mallis and other fashion industry leaders on the CFW 2013 Fashion Panel, offering advice and mentorship to competitors in the Emerging Designer Competition: East.

“Fashion insiders have been keeping an eye on Antonio Azzuolo since the inception of his men’s line,” The New York Times has written about the designer and his work. Azzuolo’s most recent collection, which debuted in September 2012 was dubbed ‘one of the standout collections of the season,’ by The New York Times.

a.a. antonio azzuolo, the custom, hand-tailored menswear collection, launched in 2008, drawing an immediate landslide of praise throughout the ranks of international fashion critics for expert, razor-sharp tailoring alongside contrasting hints of whimsy and nods to street style. His Spring Summer 2013 included unisex pieces, proving he’s got something to appeal to every style.

“There’s a focus on what I do best, the tailored blazer and garment,” Azzuolo has said of his work.

Azzuolo comes to Charleston Fashion Week^® with an arsenal of career experience. Azzuolo honed his craft in Paris at Hermes, Kenzo, and Galeries Lafayette for 10 years immediately following his schooling at Ryerson University in Toronto. In 2000, Azzuolo relocated to New York where he spent time freelancing in the fashion industry. In 2006, he joined Ralph Lauren as design director for Ralph Lauren Purple Label and Ralph Lauren Black Label. In 2008, he launched his custom hand-tailored collection, a.a. antonio azzuolo.

Throughout his collections, there is a constant sense of juxtaposition between time-honored bespoke traditions and boyish, urban charm. Azzuolo is known to play with proportions, too – from cropped blazers and slim overcoats paired with billowing pants to boxy anoraks and kimonos atop tailored shorts or Long John pants. It is this playful aura of opposition that lends to his work’s high-energy edge that’s got the industry, and Charleston Fashion Week^®, anticipating his every move.

To learn more about Antonio and his work, click here.

To learn more about what’s in store for CFW 2013, click here.