Modern Lingerie Designer Araks Yeramyan Chats Valentine's Day

By Bee-Shyuan Chang
February 8, 2011

Araks Yeramyan For those lucky to have a Valentine to make things interesting, February 14th may as well be renamed Best Lingerie Day. (Note that on eBay, as romantics gear up for Valentine's Day, online auction sales for lingerie are up 7 percent this week over last.) But rather than go your usual French lace route, consider lingerie looks that are more modernly sexy.

Lingerie designer Araks Yeramyan is an expert at conjuring up gorgeous underthings with an eye trained on the fashion forward. Her soft bralettes— often crafted in beautiful panels of silk charmeuse and sheer cotton crepe—and matching skivvies have earned her eponymous label a cult following amongst the starlet set. (Scarlett Johannson famously donned a pair of Araks underwear in "Lost in Translation".)

"My aesthetic is always 'simple effortless' and 'quiet special,'" the New York-based lingerie designer told us of her lingerie design ethos. "I wanted to start from the inside out." For Spring 2011 fashions, the Parsons and Central Saint Martins alum, who also designs a ready-to-wear collection, applied those principles to a collection inspired by Marken, Holland, a small fisherman's island that is now connected to the mainland by a dam. "I love transparency and layering transparent and delicate fabrics," Araks Yeramyan explained of her luxury lingerie designs. "Lingerie is one component of that. Bringing together the transparency and lingerie is a way to show depth. The lingerie and ready-to-wear collections follow the same rules and aesthetic."

Araks Runway and Lookbook Images

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Araks Spring 2011 Runway
Photo Credit: all images by provided by Araks
Araks Spring 2011 Lingerie Lookbook featuring guest contributors Sally Singer, Julie Gilhart, Robert Geller and more.

Surely her cerebral approach to pretty underthings has earned her a who's who list of fashion insiders and collaborators, too. For her Spring 2011 lingerie fashions, she tapped the creative energies of friends, such as T magazine editor Sally Singer, former Barneys Fashion Director Julie Gilhart and fellow fashion designer Robert Geller, by sending them a camera and a few looks to shoot. "My father was continually inspiring, exposing and surrounding me with art since birth," Araks Yeramyan commented on her artistic approach. "I knew that I always wanted to do something art-related, and always leaned towards fashion."

Fashion design may be Araks Yeramyan's early love, but her Valentine's Day now includes her loves of her life: her two boys. On eBay online auctions, she'll be hunting for vintage toys for her brood and books for herself. As far as romantic gifts are concerned, suffice it to say they're not your usual box of chocolates. Here, the talented lingerie designer shares with us her Valentine's Day gift ideas:

Holiday Classic: "A Valentine."

Vintage Victorian Valentine's Day Card

(buy it now price, $10.99)

Antique Jewelry and Beautiful Objects: "Anything from De Vera on Crosby Street." The NYC shop stocks everything from antique jewelry to ivory carvings to Venetian glass.

Venetian Glass Perfume Flacon

(buy it now price, $175)

A Pair of Luxe Pajamas
"Monogrammed Araks pajamas from Barneys.

Striped Monogram Pajama Set

(buy it now price, $44.10)

Artistic Home Decor
"Ted Muehling candle sticks."

Ted Muehling Roccoco Candlestick

(starting bid, $1,000)

Photographic Inspiration
"Books from Dashwood on Bond Street." The much-loved shop is the only independent bookstore devoted entirely to photography in New York City.