Carin Rodebjer was chosen as Designer of the Year by Elle Magazine in Sweden in 2002 and was more recently the winner of Sweden's prestigious Guldknappen award in 2005. In September 2005, she was featured in the influential Gen Art "Fresh Faces in Fashion" show in New York, an annual showcase of the best emerging fashion designers in womenswear, menswear and accessories. Rodebjer combines wearability and classical elegance with a distinctly modern and youthful sensibility. She draws inspiration from such diverse places as Swedish national costumes, Paris bohemians in the twenties and Finnish trash-rockers Hanoi Rocks. There is an inherent duality to the clothes of Rodebjer; even when the clothes are at their most romantic, there is an underlying tone of decadence and darkness. The Rodebjer line is sold in specialty stores throughout Scandinavia, Italy, Japan, France and the United States. Carin Rodebjer's fall/winter collection for 2006 will be shown in an exclusive salon-style presentation at the Swedish restaurant Aquavit in New York City on February 6, where buyers and editors will peruse the collection and meet with the designer herself.More about Rodebjer: www.rodebjer.comHelena Fredriksson, a young Swedish fashion designer based in Brooklyn, is one of three rising stars to be featured in this year's Gen Art "Fresh Faces in Fashion" show at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York on February 3. Her H Fredriksson line is available at stores in New York and other U.S. cities, as well as Sweden and Japan.Fredriksson is a self-taught fashion designer with a formal background in the fine arts. Her approach to design is very sculptural, with draping techniques and unconventional shapes that are influenced by thinking of the body as a sculpture. The balance in her collection is found in mixing opposites; loose silhouettes matched with tapered shapes or elegant cuts with a raw finish.More about H Fredriksson: www.hfredriksson.comPhoto: © Andreas LarssonRodebjer spring/summer 2006 collection