Break Free is excited to have the following designers on the runway this season:  

Renee Cafaro Atelier is the custom couture parent company to RCA Public Label. The debut spring/summer 2022 collection was presented September 10th, 2021 at NYFW on Fifth Avenue. The Millennium Collection was inspired by the extravagant, pop icon styles of the early 2000s and showcased her one-of-a-kind creations on women of all sizes.

All Atelier garments are custom orders and we would love to design something just for you or your clients. We only use the most exquisite embellishments and luxury textiles, so its price is commensurate to the quality.

Please contact info@reneecafaro.com if you would like to inquire about getting a garment made. We can design a perfect fit for all gender identities. Made in NYC.

About Renee Cafaro

Renee Cafaro is a freelance writer who has written articles on a myriad of topics, from politics to travel. Her work has been published in the New York Post, Yahoo! Travel and many online outlets. Cafaro serves as the US editor of premier plus size fashion magazine SLiNK, available at Barnes & Noble and retailers in 18 countries. 

Her more than 12 years of experience as a former political strategist as well as her subsequent career change led her to become a contributor of Mind of a Mentor, a podcast that highlights struggle-to-success stories to inspire women in the workforce. 

Renee has spent a lifetime fighting for the underdog and social justice, and despite many thinking her transition from government is odd, she actually feels that size inclusivity is a political issue. She is very passionate about all aspects of her life and seamlessly interweave them. 

In 2020, the face of furloughs, Renee set out to help fashion freelancers and NYC Garment Center small businesses stay on their feet while developing innovative, quality clothing from the most underserved sizes, 16-32+ and started Renee Cafaro Atelier, LLC. Her ready-to-wear brand, RCA Public Label was launched on couture site, 11Honoré, with their biggest virtual trunk show of 2021 and now available at rcapubliclabel.com .  Cafaro is a woman with many projects but never one to skimp on quality. She hopes that her life’s success and the recent integration of her diverse creative and professional experience will inspire the next generation of women to go after their dreams and reach their full potential. 

About Helen Castillo

Beginning her fashion studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology at age 13, Helen Castillo continued to pursue her career in fashion fulfilling four years at FIT and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelors Degree in Special Occasion design/Couture studies. After numerous internships, some of which included Vera Wang Bridal House and Vivienne Westwood (London, UK) ambition took her on to bigger opportunities with becoming a finalist on back to back seasons of Project Runway Season 12 and Project Runway All Stars Season 4 and more recently Project Runway All Starts Season 6. Having designed Mary Lambert's 54th Grammy performance and red carpet gowns working with Madonna's stylist B. Akerlund to compliment her performance look. The exposure launched her career and she was personally recruited by Zac Posen to work for him as a designer after PRAS Season 4. Lifetime reached out to Helen again for PRAS Season 6 as a 'Veteran' designer to compete and rank as the last standing female designer.

Most recently she developed the entire curriculum and teaching program for Mood Fabrics ‘MoodU’ University during the 2020 pandemic. Having reached 665 students internationally from 2020 to spring of 2022 by instructing pattern making, custom draping and garment development, and creating countless patterns for free download via the Mood ‘Sewciety’ blog ranging in sizes 0-30. Teaching within her hometown community of Union City, she recently was employed by the Board of Education to write the updated curriculum for the high school’s Career and Technical Education department FashionDesign and Apparel Design curriculum and lesson plans that will be used for future academic school years. Completing a Masters in Education via New Jersey City University in Spring of 2022 she was a mentor not only to her colleagues, but to her aspiring fashion design students.

About VALT

VALT is a luxury clothing brand made for the socialite. Built on the foundation of positive mental health, VALT's mission is to dress women in jaw-dropping, sophisticated styles so they can lead a life of elegance and fabulousness. Working only with sustainable fabrics, each collection of robes and jumpsuits is a limited edition to ensure style exclusivity.

About Ashley Alt

VALT's designer, Ashley Alt, is a Connecticut-based writer and stylist looking to raise awareness of the positive impact dressing up has on our mindset. She started her clothing line — a vibrant collection of one-piece-wonders — upon the realization that getting dressed again got her mind right again. After battling postpartum depression when her son was born, Ashley has since made it her mission to enlighten new moms and women on the power that getting dressed holds, which she intends to portray through her playful-yet-elegant pieces.

Dynasty George

Dynasty Casanova is a Brooklyn, NY native, Christian and Fashion Designer. Dynasty was raised by 4 incredible women, her Puerto Rican mother, grandmother, aunt and sister. These women inspired her personal style immensely. Living in a multigenerational home of women curated Dynasty’s love for vintage, feminine, whimsical and cultural fashion.

Dynasty graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with her BFA in Fashion Design. Post-graduation, Dynasty worked in the fashion industry until the height of the pandemic, where she found herself working from home and pregnant. This led Dynasty to work on her brand full time. She started creating dresses herself and reinvested her profits to create samples at a family owned workshop in India. She used those samples to launch a Kickstarter in April 2021 and raised $30,000 in pre-sales to launch production for her brand.

Dynasty’s whimsical designs have inspired thousands across the internet and made homes internationally in the closets of many women. Dynasty aims to continue to create clothing that grows with women throughout their life and empowers them in their femininity. Dynasty currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, son, and expecting child.