Through her Project Alabama designs, Natalie is selected as an emerging designer to watch by UPS (United Parcel Service), in collaboration with 7th on Sixth. Ten fashion designers, selected from a field of 300, show in Bryant Park during Olympus Fashion Week.
Natalie collaborates with British visual artist Rob Ryan on a series of intricate stencil designs. Inspired by Ryan’s style of elaborate drawings and paper cuttings, the collection is interwoven with embroidered versions of Ryan’s playful work.
In the early 1990s, Natalie meets Eva Whitechapel in Vienna, Austria. Between 2003 and 2005, Whitechapel contributes textile and garment designs to Project Alabama.
Alabama Chanin is officially founded on September 22, 2006. Five years after Natalie’s first Project Alabama collection, the organization begins a new chapter with two employees and twenty-two sewers, many of whom had been a part of the project since its inception.
Named one of ten finalists for the 2nd annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, Project Alabama competes alongside Anthony Nak, Atelier, Costello Tagliapietra, Derek Lam, Isabel Toledo, Lutz & Patmos, Mayle, Thom Browne, and Trovata for the final prize.
Maria Cornejo and Natalie meet in 2005 during the Cooper Hewitt National Design awards and remain lifelong friends.
Tina Lutz and Natalie meet for the first time in 2005 when they are both finalists in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition and find immediate connection.
Natalie is awarded her first Design Fellowship Award by the Alabama State Council on the Arts as part of the Individual Artist Fellowship Program.
Sarah Cristobal and Natalie meet for the first time at the Prom Night [LINK] presentation at Bowlmor Lanes in New York City. Two years later, Sarah attends the first Alabama Adventure Weekend to cover the event for Style.com.
Inspired by the Project Alabama annual picnic, Natalie, along with photographer Robert Rausch and designer Billy Reid, conceive of a collaborative event called Alabama Adventure Weekend—a three-day celebration of art, music, film, culture, food, and fashion.
