Elena Velez
Elena Velez is an American fashion designer based in New York City, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her work is characterized by a synthesis of metalsmith craft and high fashion, drawing on the industrial heritage of the American Rust Belt and themes of feminine duality and deconstruction. She is the founder of Elena Velez Industries Inc. and a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
Background and training
Velez is of Puerto Rican heritage and was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the only child of a single mother who works as a ship's captain on the Great Lakes. She has cited this upbringing as central to her artistic identity, describing its "industrial" character as foundational to her interest in the relationship between femininity and force. Velez attended Parsons School of Design and completed further studies at Central Saint Martins in London.[1]
Career
Elena Velez Industries Inc. was founded in February 2021 with investment from venture capital firms Gener8tor and CSA Partners. In 2019, her work was included in a Teen Vogue Generation Next showcase curated by Anna Wintour. Velez won the CFDA's Emerging Designer of the Year award in 2022 and was inducted as a CFDA member in March 2023.[2] She was a semi-finalist for the 2024 LVMH Prize. Her work has been featured in the V&A Museum and the Barbican Centre, and she has dressed figures including Grimes, Julia Fox, Charli XCX, Ethel Cain, and Doja Cat.
Velez describes her visual identity as "aggressively delicate" and anti-fragile. Her collections have incorporated salvaged materials, deconstructive tailoring, and site-specific fabrication methods. Runway presentations have ranged from models wading through a mud pit for her Spring/Summer 2024 show to a salon-style event drawing on Gone with the Wind for her EVSALON001 in February 2024, which drew polarized critical response.
Collaboration with remilia corporation
In February 2026, Velez announced a collaboration with Remilia Corporation to launch Remilia Atelier, described as Remilia's first expansion into physical fashion retail. The collaboration debuted with a capsule collection centered on the Universal Work Suit, a unisex two-piece suit system inspired by Yakuza fashion silhouettes, conceptualized by Charlotte Fang and tailored by Velez.[3] The collection was shown as part of Velez's AW2026 New York Fashion Week presentation. A feature-length film, Beautiful Tragedy, shot in Tokyo by director Ryu Jinnou and starring Dasha Nekrasova, accompanied the collection.
See also
References
- ↑ August 31, 2023. "Fashion designer Elena Velez on building something radically different with your work". The Creative Independent.
- ↑ "Elena Velez". Wikipedia. Retrieved February 2026.
- ↑ February 11, 2026. "Elena Velez Partners with Remilia Corporation to Launch Remilia Atelier, Debuting the Universal Work Suit". Business Wire.