Mark Eisen was born in 1960 in Cape Town, South Africa. He was the son of a clothing manufacturer. In 1974, he went to the United States and studied business. While a student at the University of Southern California, he designed a football helmet for the school Trojans, which sold in thousands and earned him a mention in Newsweek magazine.
In 1988, he showed his first collection, consisting of carefully detailed denim suits bleached white and recoloured with special dyes. He called it "Couture Denim". It was well received and snapped up by the great store Bergdorf Goodman in New York, who filled their windows with his creations.
In early 1996 the designer launched two new labels, Urchin and Urchin Knits (later combined and renamed Urchin Mark Eisen).
Available in more than 800 retail stores internationally through 2001, the Mark Eisen brand included Studio Mark Eisen and a knitwear line, Urchin Mark Eisen. After serving as senior vice president of design for Ann Taylor from 2002-2003, Mark Eisen launched a custom made-to-order collection for his devoted private clientele. Karoo Mark Eisen, a cashmere knitwear collection, was launched in 2005. A longtime member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Mark Eisen has been honored with multiple awards during his design career including two American Achievement Awards from the Secretary of Commerce.
Returning to his roots, the South African-born Eisen helped sponsor the African Designs Fashion Competition in 2000, a contest for new African designers to win a three-month internship with Eisen and a chance to show their designs at New York's Fashion Week for the summer 2002 season. Eisen also served as a juror at the Seventh on Sixth global design forum, which brought in design teams from Hong Kong, Africa, and Portugal. While Mark Eisen's creations firmly reflect American design sensibilities, he has not forgotten the difficulties of his countrymen and women. With designers of all ethnic origins blooming in South Africa, Eisen is well positioned to bring what he calls the "cross-global reality" of African designs to America and beyond.
The look: Womenswear in the hands of Eisen is elegant and well cut, made from the finest fabrics. Eisen is unabashedly smitten with textiles and has enjoyed combining opposites for surprising results. He likes mixing Lycra in with more delicate fabrics for its ability to retain its shape, and has used a myriad of luxurious fabrics like silk, sateen wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca, angora, and suede in his designs. His collections in 1994 and 1995 featured what became an early trademark—minimalist chic—with tailored suits and simple dresses in dark hues of black, charcoal, and chocolate browns, while throwing in a few splashy neon separates to brighten the range. After several minimal collections, Eisen turned to synthetics, such as resortwear collections using acetate, rayon, and even polyurethane. Eisen's fascination with textiles is always evident, concocting high-tech fabrications as laminated chiffon, linen coated with resin, rayon crepe, and nylon blends. Who Wears It: Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Marisa Tomei and Mick Jagger