Kristen Burger
Principal Designer/Production Manager
Crescendo Apparel
“So many women look at clothes on a rack and think: I’d only look good in those if I were five
pounds lighter, two inches taller, or in some way different,” says Crescendo’s head designer
Kristen Burger. “At Crescendo, I design clothing that works for women as they are--not as they
feel they could or should be.”
Burger, who was born in the U.S., spent a large part of her childhood in Hong Kong. “I was never
made to feel that being different was a problem,” says Burger, a 6’1” brunette who was taller
than her babysitter by age 10. “When I got back to America as a teen, I couldn’t understand
why people had so many prejudices about different body types. I want these clothes, which
look great on body types most designers ignore, to play a role in changing that.”
As Crescendo’s queen of quality control, Burger says her obsession with detail is one of the
healthier fixations she could have picked up along the course of her design career. And as she continues to roll out new designs for Crescendo--classic and fashion-forward at once--it’s come in handy.
Prior to her appointment as Crescendo’s head designer and production manager, the graduate
of The Illinois Institute of Art cut her teeth in women’s fashion as assistant to award-winning
Chicago designer Lara Miller.
Principal Designer/Production Manager
Crescendo Apparel
“So many women look at clothes on a rack and think: I’d only look good in those if I were five
pounds lighter, two inches taller, or in some way different,” says Crescendo’s head designer
Kristen Burger. “At Crescendo, I design clothing that works for women as they are--not as they
feel they could or should be.”
Burger, who was born in the U.S., spent a large part of her childhood in Hong Kong. “I was never
made to feel that being different was a problem,” says Burger, a 6’1” brunette who was taller
than her babysitter by age 10. “When I got back to America as a teen, I couldn’t understand
why people had so many prejudices about different body types. I want these clothes, which
look great on body types most designers ignore, to play a role in changing that.”
As Crescendo’s queen of quality control, Burger says her obsession with detail is one of the
healthier fixations she could have picked up along the course of her design career. And as she continues to roll out new designs for Crescendo--classic and fashion-forward at once--it’s come in handy.
Prior to her appointment as Crescendo’s head designer and production manager, the graduate
of The Illinois Institute of Art cut her teeth in women’s fashion as assistant to award-winning
Chicago designer Lara Miller.