Hester’s Double Happiness

The assumption, when you hear that the designers(designer toej) behind fledgling label Hester are former Men’s Vogue staffers, is that it’s a pet project, launched in their newly freed-up days of unemployment. Wrong. In fact, editors-turned-designers Mauricio Quezada, 25, and Tasha Green, 26, cobbled together their first ten-plus-piece capsule collection for Spring 2009 while still on-staff, popping out during lunch hours to buy zippers and visiting factories before morning meetings. But not having full-time jobs has certainly helped shuttle along Hester’s progress.

The second collection has matured to 12 full looks. It still hews to the two self-described fashion obsessives’ push-pull ethos of “future vintage” classic tailored wools with vinyl piping, polished tops and dresses pieced together with scuba-sleek lines. They chose the name Hester for its dual quality as well, which they call “awkwardly regal.” Though Quezada and Green have dealt with lost jobs and the stress of a navigating a start-up through rough waters, they positively radiate optimism.