loyandford

Stefan Loy, 36 and Frank Ford, 35--a design duo for 10 months--presented their first collection Saturday night at their Chung King Road boutique in Chinatown to a crowd that spilled onto the street. Later, nearly 300 guests partied past midnight with models, performance artists and a lone Ford. Loy, unfortunately, was in the hospital, being treated for a concussion suffered weeks earlier. He was released Sunday and is back to work, fielding calls from well-wishers--both about his health and the collection of finely tailored clothes.

Known for their deconstructionist approach, Loy, who grew up in Munich, and Ford, who grew up in Berlin, didn’t disappoint with their one-of-a-kind pieces, which Ford described as “the new office uniform.”

Looks included a loose-knit black-and-white houndstooth wool sweater--its bottom snipped off, leaving a raw hem--teamed with a black silk skirt. A short silk, pinstriped, one-sleeved dress featured a scarf sewn onto one side that wraps around the front. A stunning black satin ruffled coat dress demonstrated Loy and Ford’s knack for piecing a garment together. The coat dress’ sleeves were ruched from the shoulder to the elbow, then opened into bell-shaped wool pinstriped sleeves hand-sewn with heavy string from the elbow to the wrists.

“It’s not boring,” said Ford, who might have been describing himself, with his tattooed arms, multicolored hair and clothes he describes as looking “like a pit bull attacked them.”