Trash Couture, the Paris based label from industry veterans Ann Wiberg and Roberto Henrichsen — the former a member of a design royalty from Copenhagen with a string of stores there and in London, the latter previously creative director at Anna Molinari and Missoni menswear — is gearing up to be a top ten “it” brand of 2004. The label is raising its profile beyond Spoon magazine editorials and online mentions by leaping across the pond with a helping hand from clients Mary J. Blige, model Debra Shaw, and Gywneth Paltrow. On a recent trip to New York, a friend of a friend of the designers was seen clad in one of Trash Couture’s Pearl’s Dream dresses and Linda Fargo‘s windows at Bergdorf Goodman had their dresses on full display, signaling the quickly spreading word on the two-year-old label. What makes Trash Couture so enticing is their signature, seemingly snatched from nature, asymmetrically cut dresses with frayed edges, and decorative bodices that say exotic plant life but thankfully without that precious feel. Throw these dresses over a pair of jeans, as Debra Shaw likes to wear them, and it’s a mix of ethereal beauty and the chicly casual. It’s no shocker that celebrities are discovering the label; it’s the kind of style you imagine Hollywood starlets adopting for the loveliness it creates around the facial area with a casually cool option for below the waist. It’s a fetching language in modern dressing. Time will tell how the label expands beyond fluid dresses for skinny girls but until then, tout le monde will wear couture trashy.

- Jason Campbell
Photo: Trash Couture Amazonian Gold dress