Jonathan Cohen, BFA Fashion Design ’09 and Sarah Leff, BBA Strategic Design & Management ’09

Jonathan Cohen ’09 and Sarah Leff ’09 build a fashion-forward label on modern craftsmanship and cultural heritage.

Jonathan Cohen, BFA Fashion Design ’09, met business partner Sarah Leff, BBA Strategic Design & Management ’09, while attending Parsons. As a senior, Cohen received wide praise from his peers and teachers for his senior thesis. Upon graduating, he left New York and spent a year in California, where he continued to build upon his senior thesis by creating new pieces and silhouettes aligned with his final school project. He came back to New York City, connected with Leff, and had his pieces photographed into a re-interpreted look book. Together, they selected a group of editors and stores and sent out their materials to gain market reaction. The attention was organic and began to build slowly.

They formally launched Jonathan Cohen in 2011, where Leff serves as CEO and Cohen serves as Creative Director. The collection is designed for an artistic female who values the story of the brand and the pillars in which it is built upon. She’s a multi-dimensional woman who cannot be defined by a single quality….and those descriptors are constantly evolving. She is someone who has many facets which help to shape her sense of self and awareness. She’s a woman who values quality over quantity, values the craftsmanship that goes into creating her garments and when she spends money on a piece, she wants to make sure when she puts it on, she feels both unique and special.

Cohen’s designs are infused with his rich cultural heritage. With parents from Mexico and a San Diego upbringing, Cohen was surrounded by strong willed individuals who loved to immerse themselves in the colors and textiles reminiscent of their childhood. Cohen married the modernity of Manhattan and the on-the-go fluidity of the city — which eventually shaped the Jonathan Cohen woman — with the Mexican prints and patterns and colors, the laid-back ease of the San Diego surf culture. Together, the laid-back feel and modern city approach have manifested into what the brand has become.

Jonathan Cohen was a finalist in the 2018 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.