Fred Segal, the Sunset Boulevard staple brand, has released a new collection designed by Madelen Nyau, a Zambian-born, Queens-raised, Brooklyn-based designer making big strides in the fashion industry, and her brand T1TAN STUDIOS.

Nyau is the winner of the second annual Season Zero design contest presented by Mastercard®. The contest is made in collaboration with Fred Segal and Black in Fashion Council, an organization dedicated to pushing for the advancement of people of color within the industry. In winning, Nyau earned a Mastercard® grant, a coveted pop-up showcasing her work at Fred Segal retail stores and online, and a prestigious mentorship opportunity.

Her showcase at Fred Segal will be presented with an unveiling celebration at Fred Segal’s Flagship Sunset Boulevard location, where the designs will be available for sale until January 2023.

The unisex line features knit tops, denim pants and coats, waxed and unwaxed canvas pants, shorts, a cotton-polyester skirt, and pleated dress, and more, ranging in prices from $125 to $595. The knits incorporate technology from Shima Seiki programming to achieve the stiff construction in the tops. Fabrics in the collection include wool, crochet thread, cotton yarn, cotton denim, polytech, twill, and more.

Nyau’s debut collection is driven by the relationship of the body to space and objects with a focus on the work chair – re-evaluating its physical, emotional, and spiritual role. The designs look at the construction of furniture to increase productivity and focus, playing with structure, function, and comfort. Exaggerated silhouettes emphasizing upright tops and billowing bottoms highlight the physical purposes of the anatomy of a chair alongside the value of connection to the environment.

This all makes sense for a designer whose mission is to create silhouettes and garments that empower the physical flesh and spirit to handle any adversity experienced, whose belief that clothes are compelling and essential components to life and can enhance and highlight one’s power in the physical world, and who is exploring concepts driven by science, psychology, and quantum mechanics through design with her brand.