Andraé Gonzalo will tell you that fashion is not just something that you wear on your body. It is HOW you wear something on your body. Fashion is behavior and thought. It is not the ugly shirt you are wearing, but the shirt you choose to wear when you feel that the times are ugly. It is a mentality.
It is this mentality which he continually attempts to promote with his work. Frequently characterized by a sense of “imperfect romance”, his designs exist in the realm beyond the point where a garment helps you contend with the fact that it’s cold outside. “I’m always looking for the Berlin Wall”, Gonzalo says, “you know, that fascinating barrier that marks the intersection between poverty and luxury, or truth and reality”. ‘Reality’, and its many incarnations, is something Gonzalo is well acquainted with, due to his stint on the second season of Bravo’s Project Runway. Educated at Otis College of Art and design, Gonzalo was the designer/owner of the iconic, but ill-fated “Forget it, Jake” boutique in LA’s Chinatown. Today, he designs freelance for anyone with a problem that can be solved through aesthetics. He recently completed a two-season collection of cocktail dresses to launch the label “Single after Eight”. It debuts at Bloomingdales and specialty boutiques, nationwide, in April of 2008.