NANETTE LEPORE
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Nanette produced her first couture look at the tender age of nine outfitting a neighbor in a floral bedspread, beaded choker and face paint. The girl posed in the family’s front yard behind a hand-lettered sign declaring Lepore, and thus began Nanette’s lifelong interest in fashion.
Sensing young Nanette’s entrepreneurial talent, her parents encouraged her creativity. After all, artistic innovation flourished naturally in a household headed by an abstract painter-father and a fabulously stylish mother of four. Road tripping on Route 66 with her bohemian parents each summer instilled in Nanette a free spirit and a taste for travel.
After completing her undergraduate studies at Youngstown University, she packed her bags and headed east to New York City’s venerable Fashion Institute of Technology. She aced her degree in design, married painter Robert Savage and set out to pay her dues in design studios around town.
However, Nanette knew she wouldn’t be satisfied until her creations bore her own name. In 1992, bolstered by a $5,000 loan from her dad to strike out on her own, Nanette set up shop in a penthouse office in the garment district. It quickly became an incubator for poets and painters who would bounce ideas off one another while stargazing on the roof.
Today
Nanette designs in her atelier in New York City alongside her husband, Robert, who helms the business side of the worldwide brand as its President. Nanette enjoys a strong following among editors, style-makers and celebrities including Freida Pinto, Sharon Stone, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Eva Longoria Parker, Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Abigail Breslin.
This Fall
Nanette launched her newest fragrance nanette by Nanette Lepore and a line of luxe basics called oonagh by Nanette Lepore. She is currently collaborating with Joy Gryson on the launch of her handbag line.
There are eleven Nanette Lepore boutiques worldwide, including New York, Los Angeles, Bal Harbour, Chicago, Las Vegas, Boston, Chevy Chase, London, and Tokyo. Nanette resides in Manhattan’s West Village with her husband and daughter, Violet, age twelve.
Style.com’s Alison Baenen said this of Nanette’s Spring 2011 collection: “Bummed out by daily bulletins on the foundering economy—”I need to stop listening to NPR every morning!” she said—Nanette Lepore sought solace in the homespun. Her inspiration was the work apron, and elements of that seamstress’ wardrobe staple could be picked out all over the runway: Dresses tied closed with unfussy bows, and pockets were ample enough for PDAs all and sundry.
At times, the overlarge pockets and utilitarian buckles and clasps were a distraction, but a sequined mini worn with a tucked-in white work shirt brought the concept back into focus. An amplified rose print (especially sweet on swimwear) helped lift the mood, as did a live performance of original songs by the soulful crooner John Forté. Cutouts on a white eyelet blouse echoed the rose leitmotif.
The show may not have been the week’s very most compelling reason to rush out to shop, but—peppered with shades of plummy pink and tangerine—it was a good antidote to the recession blues.”
Gossip Girl Photo Source:
Style.com Review: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2011RTW-NLEPORE
All photos and information about Nanette Lepore: http://www.nanettelepore.com/about-us/ and http://www.nanettelepore.com/home
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