Stephen J. Fellerman

 

 

Having graduated art school in New York, Stephen Fellerman got the opportunity of a lifetime -  to  travel the world, working as a male model. His look was a huge hit and led to living for months at a time in Tokyo, Sydney, Munich, Milan, London, Hong Kong, and Paris. All this world travel coincided beautifully with his desire to see the world’s best art collections, monuments, galleries, and museums.

 

During his time working as a model, Stephen was photographed by greats such as Albert Watson, Pamela Hanson, Klaus Wickrath, Bruce Weber, and Steven Meisels to name a few. He was cast to star in some wide-reaching European TV commercials and worked with top creatives such as Serge Gainsbourg. On the runways of Paris, Milan, and London, he did fashion shows for dozens of designers like Tom Ford, Gianni Versace and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Stephen was the first man to make the cover of British and Australian Cosmopolitan Magazine. He also booked repeat campaigns for well known fashion labels such as GAP, Lanvin, Les Copains, Sonia Rykiel, Pierre Cardin, Burberry and so on.

 

After a decade of success in Europe, Stephen returned to the US and turned his attention back to fine art. He worked to produce exhibitions of his paintings and sculptures that debuted at RARE,

a Manhattan gallery. In early 2002, Fellerman applied a secret new process that he had developed and had used in former paintings to create a new textile which he named “Trans-age.” This process enabled him to produce a hard-wearing, flexible raw material that was perfect for fashion accessories. He started to design and manufacture a line of bags using his new textile and named the label “toi pour moi.” The first “toi pour moi” collection debuted at New York fashion emporium Henri Bendel in the summer of 2002. Within a few  weeks, the wearable and carry-able cutting edge patchwork and collage-inspired collection was sold out. Fashionistas and galleristas had snapped up one-of-a-kind bags and delighted  in the fact that each was signed and numbered by the artist.

 

Since Stephen’s marriage of art and commerce with “toi pour moi” has been such a success, he continues to design and produce new collections each season that are exciting retailers from New York and London to Japan. For now the business of art and fashion has snowballed in to retail success, and Stephen’s time is devoted to future collections, new accessories and jewelry. However, he hopes to find time to work on a  new exhibition of his sculptures, paintings, and installations for a gallery show. This will inevitably include his new and very relevant “art-and-commerce” fashion collection that has mutually inspired and developed his fine art.