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Annie Havlicek’s Feminine, Flattering Designs Coming to the LES

While other 16-year-olds fritter away their vacations sleeping in and working minimum-wage jobs, Annie Havlicek spent her high-school summers taking classes in illustration and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Chicago-area native was raised in a creative-minded family: Her mother is an interior designer and her father is a contractor who designs and builds custom homes. After studying fashion design at Parsons, Havlicek snagged a yearlong internship at Michael Kors and created a capsule collection for the Coterie trade show.

The collection garnered the interest of boutiques across the country, prompting her to launch her first full line for fall 2009. The gauzy, feminine looks are inspired in part by her art background; her spring collection, in particular, was influenced by the paintings of Renior. This May, she’s opening her first stand-alone store on Orchard Street, a 350-square-foot mezzanine space where she’ll also stock the full spring line alongside antiques, Digby & Iona jewelry, and Osborn’s custom-made shoes. Click ahead for a preview of her spring collection.

Annie Havlicek, opening May 15: 154 Orchard St., nr. Stanton St.; no phone yet.

Annie Havlicek’s Feminine, Flattering Designs Coming to the LES