Designer Spotlight: Vicky Posner

If you don’t know her already, Vicky Posner is an upcoming, local designer from Rhode Island.  She was brought up in Barrington and now resides in Warwick with her boyfriend.  Vicky puts a lot of heart and soul into everything she does.  Ever since she was a young girl, she was interested in fashion.  She would always want to fix bracelets and other items in order to make them better.  Vicky Posner has the passion and drive to motivate her growth.

It was only last November when she decided to leave her job position at a jewelry manufacturer and began to work with her own line called Vicky by Victoria. Her main purpose was to create a line that people would love to wear and could afford.  Vicky by Victoria is a great collection of hand-made bracelets that consist of themes involving faith, a rocker feel, classic, and even bracelets that inspire your own personality.  This brand targets a consumer between the ages of 18 and early 30’s.  Furthermore, Vicky dreamed about a company that helped others through fundraising campaigns.  As much as she enjoys the business of fashion, the caring and loving side of Vicky Posner will always come through in the end.  As of right now, Vicky by Victoria has a website and can be found in five salons and four boutiques.  The website has started to expand with trendy clothing selections.  These items are not designed by Vicky herself, but are from additional designers.  Vicky takes time to works with Pauly D’s Dirty Couture line.  In the near future, she hopes to add a website explicit to the trend pieces with the name Ntrendsic.  Men’s street ware with a hipster look will also be supplementary to this site.  A storefront location is in the process.  It will be a boutique called Ntrendsic.  However, this is not the endRr for Vicky Posner’s success.  She plans on creating a luxury line that will consist of standout pieces that will target a Nordstrom or Saks consumer.  This higher end accessories line will target ages 20 and up and start with prices around $150.  Similar to Vicky by Victoria, this will originate with bracelets and later branch out to other accessories.  Graphic designer, Jason Leoni is helping her with the branding of this luxury collection.

In ten years from now Vicky Posner dreams to open her ideal shop with a half-pipe inside and a very unique atmosphere for the consumer.  She wants people to go out of their way to visit the shop.  This boutique will not be a white wall setup, but have a distinct, fun feel.  Customers are exceptionally important to this genuine designer.  Vicky Posner is not only talented, but honestly enjoys get to know her consumer.  She loves what she does and it couldn’t be more obvious.  Outside of having her dream store, she wishes to have a family and continue to do what she loves in hope that her collections will one day end up in Bloomingdales.  Vicky Posner herself stated, “I want the American dream of becoming something.”

vickybyvictoria.com">http://vickybyvictoria.com/

Social Women with Sara Faella of Fashion RI

Social Women invites Sara Faella owner of Fashion RI to talk about 2012 fashion trends. Get tips for this year's do's and don'ts!

Owner, creator, founder & branding enthusiast Rosanna Ortiz Sinel built a brand, created a strategy, and identified a need in our Providence market. Just two years ago, she created Style Week Providence. Originally a fashion writer and advertising guru with a clear passion for the arts, she changed the way style is appreciated in Providence. StyleWeek Providence was created to honor designers and give them the recognition they deserve. "We are actually known to say 'no' more than we say 'yes'," Rosanna tells Sara Faella, founder of FashionRI.  They believe that while designers are busy with creating collections and fronting costs, marketing and branding can fall to the back burner and that's where Style Week, LLC the PR outlet comes in.  

"These designers deserve recognition and the attendees that go along with it.  We are 

selective in who we represent, but that's because we give our designers the PR they need."  Rosanna continues to tell the FashionRI team that you can look forward to these two separate entities in the future: StyleWeek Providence for Runway/Fashion Shows and Events, and StyleWeek, LLC the branding and PR team that will represent the designers.

There are four ways to get involved with StyleWeek Providence 1) you can be a participating designer, which involves an extensive application process.  A lot of these designers are professionals and many coming from previous seasons of Project Runway.  With this being said, the aspiring designer could feel quite intimidated.  As a result they have created SEED, a student design competition to level the playing field a bit. The FashionRI Team is eager to see the turn out in January for these young designers.  2) As an industry professional you may receive invite only seats or 3) there are 120 seats open to the public, Rosanna feels that general public and not just professional buyers should be able to be an attendee "because essentially" she chimes in "we are all buyers." 4) Then of course there are sponsorship opportunities, this season StyleWeek Providence has accumulated over 20 sponsors including Swarovski, Providence Monthly and The Rhode Show.

As we wrapped up our interview Sara asked a final question "So who is responsible for inspiring you or guiding you into this path?" Rosanna without hesitation said her Dad, Martin Ortiz. She said "he always told me to go for my goals and was so supportive in anything I did or wanted to do." 

FashionRI unquestionably enjoyed interviewing Rosanna, a beautiful inspiring woman and successful entrepreneur. We also look forward to covering StyleWeek Providence this season at The Providence Biltmore Hotel January 22nd-28th 2012. Please be on the lookout for video & media coverage by the FashionRI Team.

Twitter @rosannasinel

Twitter @styleweekprov

Twitter @fashion_ri

Spotlight Designer: Mallory Musante Shoe Couturier

We introduce today our Spotlight Designer, 

Mallory Musante

for 

Mallory Musante Shoes

We had the honor of interviewing Mallory Musante here at Fashion RI. She is a truly inspiring and ambitious artist that is true to her passion in designing couture, custom shoe prints made to order to every woman's desire.

Since our interview, the buzz has spread and she has expanded. She now sets up Pop-Stores! Where you can try on your very best pairs and shop around for future pairs or order your own custom pair.

Her last Pop-up store was on Federal Hill, in Providence RI. With a little visit from Sara Faella (with a two year old in tow), she got to see for herself how beautiful and what an innovative way to showcase her work. We loved! Sara asked "So where is the next pop-up store?" Mallory would love to do a Pop-up store in Boston. Well that is one store we definitely make the trip to! 

We wish Mallory all the best as well as look forward to working together!

Love,

The Fashion RI Team

website 

http://www.MalloryMusanteShoes.com

facebook Fan Page

http://facebook.com/mallory.musante 

email

mmusante@mallorymusanteshoes.com

Spotlight June Coming Soon! Featuring Mallory Musante Shoes

June Spotlight will be up shortly, we are excited to have local Mallory Musante Shoe Designer as our Fashion RI Spotlight Designer!

Spotlight Designer:Julie Sygiel for Sexy Period

We introduce our Second Spotlight Designer, 

Julie Sygiel 

for 

Sexy Period Underwear

Finding harmony between fashion and function is no easy task for designers and thus we as consumers often sacrifice one or the other.  In terms of delicate womanly issues such as (gasp!) menstruation, being fashionable is virtually never an option.  How many of us have those pairs of faded, tired looking panties that we only keep for such an occasion? You know, the ones that get tucked away in a dark corner of the underwear drawer and only get worn for the most inconvenient 5-7 days of the month?  The ones you hate your significant other to see, much less launder?  At one point they were new and exciting but once a drop of blood hits them, they’re sent into period panty retirement- or even thrown away.  How annoying! Who wants to sacrifice fashion for bodily function?

                  Not me, not you, and certainly not Brown University alum Julie Sygiel, the founder and CEO of Sexy Period.  Much like the name suggests, Julie wants all ladies to feel sexy, even while on their period. 

Julie studied as a Chemical Engineer switching to Entrepreneurship and from there created a business plan to create Sexy Period. After obtaining a few male investors and Julie exclaims during the inverview at FashionRI “and who knew, 40 years ago we could never have gone before male board of investors for period underwear..” we couldn’t agree more and let’s face it women are valuable in the corporate world and the last thing they need to be worried about is spillage on the job!

Julie and team’s business plan then quickly extended into a 2.5 year market research and product development plan that included testing products for even “Worst Case Scenario’s” thus being said some fabrics took the cake: elastic lace, nylon/spandex and micropolyesters. It must be known these must have’s are manufactured right here in the U.S in Pennsylvania with their first mass production of 500 pairs sold out instantly and second production to begin in early May.

                  These fashion forward and comfortable undies are leak resistant back up underwear, they conveniently avoid “OMG” moments due to period spills made in sizes XS-XL. The silhouettes even range in style and we here at FashionRI just love the Boy-Short style Sexy Period undies.

                  You can find SexyPeriod on sale on their website at 

www.sexyperiod.com 

prices ranging from $32-$44.

 Thank you for letting us interview you we are huge fans of Sexy Period!

interviewed by Sara Faella & Chrissi Hennessey

written by Sara Faella & Lauren Ashley

Spotlight Designer:Elizabeth McLaughlin, Couture Swimwear Designer

Today we Introduce our very first Spotlight Designer, 
Elizabeth McLaughlin

At the age of 19 Liz has produced her first line, 
Isabela Royale Swimwear

Getting to Know The Artist

Elizabeth graduated and attended at the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts from 2007-2009 where my majored in fine arts located in Rhode Island.  She dabbles and has experience with all mediums of art- painting, sculpting, drawing; “I love it all.” she states.  “Art is definitely an essential element of my philosophy on fashion- I want my pieces to convey an image, a theme, a cohesive idea.”

At an early age Elizabeth always knew exactly what is was she wanted to do, she goes to tell us here at Fashion RI~

“I’ve been interested in art since a young age and luckily my parents have been super supportive.  They let me take sewing classes as a kid and from there I started making clothes for my dolls.  Attending an artistic high school only furthered my skills and my interest so here I am at 19, working on my first line.” and we have to say, we are very impressed with this professional and sweet artist.

Isabela Royale Swimwear

These suits are very exotic and have a multi-cultural feel. Inspirations were pulled from different areas around the globe to create these exciting and original styles.  Comprised of bold colors and textures which best convey the imagery and themes that the designer…so desires. This particular collection is inspired by global cultures, places like Africa, the Carribbean, and Spain. She has incorporated accessories of shells, precious stones, and exotic beading.  Bold, bright prints are a favorite too.   Ruffles are so in vogue, as you can also see them also displayed in her designs. She expresses, “I like the way they create the illusion of curves when used as a trim along a triangle top or Brazilian-cut bottom.”

Due to the quality materials and time involved in designing and making them,  the price points on a couture bathing suit range from about $80-$140.

Which we believe here at FashionRI are extremely reasonable. We are ready to place our order!

Like many designers her creative process is really rather long- “I’m not someone who can force it or pull it from somewhere, I need to wait for the right moment.  I would like to further expand on my global and cultural ideas, maybe explore other areas of the world; use some tropical and safari styles perhaps.” And continues to state, “I like my styles to look very original and different than the stuff you can get in a catalogue or at a store.”

All of these couture bathing suits are custom to fit the clients body and accent all of their best features. You can  soon find “Isabela Royale Swimwear” on SaraFaellaCouture.com…in the meantime please contact isabelaroyale@yahoo.com or www.isabelaroyale.com.