Stylist-turned-designer Victoria Bartlett is one such person and her label VPL is a shining example of form harmoniously meeting function. Recognized last year as an Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation winner, VPL is all about effortless style with no shortage of slightly disheveled sex appeal.

We recently caught up with Bartlett in her showroom and discovered several must-haves from her Spring '07 and Pre-Fall '07 collections. For Spring, Bartlett is launching a new handbag collection, featuring slouchy oversized white totes with plenty of carry-all power, canvas mid-calf boots outlined at the base of the foot with a splash of contrasting leather, sporty mesh lace-up sneaker sandals (like visual corsets for your toes, but with none of the discomfort), and light-as-air Dorsay raffia tap heels with ballet-esque elastic straps - we particularly liked the deliciously pop coral colored leather heels.

Counterbalancing the weightless layers of the clothes were heavy-looking and highly covetable glass shard necklaces by Josh Hickey for VPL (yes, they literally look like panes of broken glass, except the edges have been sanded down to make them blunt to the touch, but not to the eyes).

Bartlett's first Pre-Fall collection included luxuriously draped t-shirts, boxy sweaters for layering and more of her signature undergarments, all in neutral colors like cream, white and gray with occasional touches of muted colors such as teal and burgundy.

Prints for this collection were based on imagery derived from dripping or falling water drops, and a draped burgundy dress with pale pink straps and a pink water drop pattern around the hem was particularly enchanting.