Correll Correll

Daphne and Vera Correll, the twin sisters behind Correll Correll, are not your typical twin designers. Despite the fact that they run a fashion line together, they thrive on independence; they live in different boroughs (Daphne in Williamsburg, Vera on the L.E.S.), don't finish each other's sentences and split the design duties, with Daphne handling the knits, and Vera the wovens. For fall, the Ecco Domani award-winning designers worked with over-sized jumble knits, hand-dyed silks and tailored jackets all creating an exquisite tension that could only be the product of two people who know and trust each other enough to let the other run free with her creative instincts.

The Corrells have not followed a traditional path since leaving their hometown of Göppingen in the south of Germany for art school in Amsterdam, and later to the United States where they continued to study art. Even so, their path to fashion seemed inevitable. Vera started experimenting with "collaging" T-shirts into sweaters for friends, which made their way into stores. They officially started the fashion line in 2006. "There was no master plan," Daphne says, "it was just something we enjoyed."

Much like in the work of Anni Albers,the Bauhaus designer whom the Corrells cite as an inspiration, their interests stem from a natural curiosity to work with new materials. "We talk about the materials we're going to use and the colors and then we go our separate ways," Vera explains, "and once there's certain shapes we'll talk and there's a bit of collaboration again." Which means there's always an element of the unexpected lurking in their studio. "We clearly have such different visions," Vera says, "and when we see the final product, it's always a surprise."

Vera and Daphne wear clothing by Correll Correll.

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