Provocative on Paper

Designer Karen Walker’s ‘Masters of Disguise’ eyewear shoot has inspired the editor of hip New York-based publication Paper Magazine to base an entire issue on the collection. Walker’s creative and quirky take on undercover detective disguises tickled Paper editor, Kim Hastreiter’s funny bone and sparked their magazine’s ‘Pretend’ theme. “I was inspired to create this issue’s theme when I received a really hysterical eyewear collection from a fun designer in New Zealand named Karen Walker,” writes Hastreiter. Karen Walker launched her Spring/Summer 2009 collection at New York Fashion Week. TimeOut New York’s ‘Tony Blog’ says of Walker’s show: “A designer’s popularity can truly be measured by the number of fashion folk who come to your show while Tropical Storm Hanna dumps loads of rain on New York City … I saw a line three blocks long of people waiting to get into the Karen Walker show. Fashionistas and downtown hipsters teetered on four-inch heels (in the pouring rain), waiting to get in. That, my friends, is dedication.”