Designer

…………………….I loved this skirt for so many reasons…Of course the over all look of the skirt was pure fun. The ethnic, hand made. and artisan look of the skirt is what I truly loved. Yes, it was a challenge to design…..deciding the pattern the colors and where the metallic threads, sequins and beads should go was like a huge puzzle….but that’s the fun of designing….anyway for me. I know many designers would hand this project off to others to figure out. They would give them some sort of abstract inspiration and send them off. The minutiae of it was overwhelming for many. What I also love about artisan skirts or any apparel is there is no time or place……..they are never dated or out of fashion….because they are artisan……and that never goes out of style. This skirt looks as fresh and as much fun as when I first did it many years ago.

………………………..The Moroccan sweater has unbelievable hand emb in thread work and sewn on sequins. I recently saw this sweater on ebay for $29! I have seen sweaters in this vein in many catalogs including Soft Surroundings, Peruvian Collection and Sundance…..For me it’s a collector’s item because sweaters with this amount of emb…front, back and sleeves are not often avail at a reasonable price……and ethnic inspired clothes are never out of date. Some may be tired of wearing something like this after so many years, but to someone else it’s NEW and FRESH!

……………………..The second part of April 07 was totally different from the first, and they were shown on two different shows in April. There were many reorders in addition to these four new styles. There was a cotton tunic shirt that was printed with an eyelet pattern inspired from a window valence in my bedroom. In this case it’s printed and the holes are laser cut. Then there was a tile print on georgette for a peasant type blouse…..If you look closely at the sketch you will notice that the writing are corrections I wanted made. They sometimes sent the sample to me, and I would put it on my form. I would then send a sketch back with the corrections I wanted made…….A cardigan with milk beads, sequins and bugle beads, and a SILK/NYLON ENR sweater set with rhinestone buttons.

……………………….March 07 was a romantic group of clothes with very special fabrics developed for the individual styles….Some had a very fragile, feminine look…..Starting at the top left, was a beautiful single button blazer made in a NATURAL STRETCH LINEN with METALLIC THREADS woven into it. It came in NATURAL with GOLD, a very pale AQUAMARINE with GOLD, and IVORY with SILVER. The natural and aqua had a gold metal “soutache” button and the ivory had a silver button [you can see it in the photo at the lower left under the sweater]. This was a shorter jacket, It has princess seams and body darts for a sculptured shape. It was fully lined. To coordinate with the blazer there were two very special pieces in a very special burn out silk I had developed for the group. It had SATIN small flowers, leaves and stems on a sheer chiffon background……It was also DOUBLE DYED!!! meaning the fabric was in to colors. The Aquamarine chiffon had Champagne or Natural Beige satin flowers….the White chiffon had Silver Grey satin flowers and the Natural chiffon had a tonal but darker Natural satin flowers, leaves and stems. There was a V-neck tank, and a BIAS pull on skirt that was 28 inches long. The skirt had a special elastic at the waist. It wasn’t covered. It was an exposed “fancy” elastic with a scalloped edge like something that would be used for lingerie. Of course both pieces were lined, but they were still light as a feather and moved with every breeze…..Below is a sketch of a LINEN and LUREX BIG SHIRT…..The fabric was super light weight. It was the same body as the very successful Fuji silk work shirt, and had tiny faux horn buttons that were DTM the NATURAL, PALE LILAC and CELEDON……To the left of the shirt is a suede jacket that had a laser cut eyelet design. This design bordered the bottom of the jacket and 3/4 sleeves. It had one hook and eye closure. The colors again were NATURAL, CELEDON and PALE LILAC…….The sweater at the far left was a 5 gauge fancy open work pattern with a center  diamond motif, and open work zig zags on either side. It had flat rib starts….The yarn was a beautiful blend of LINEN/VISCOSE and LUREX. What you can’t see is how dimensional the stitches were. Between each zig zag there were raised zig zag ribs…and the rib starts were very pronounced. The colors were Ivory/Silver, Lilac/Gold and Natural/Gold. This was a very different group from anything I had ever done before for QVC. I thought it would be perfect for that time of year when the spring bulbs start breaking through and perfect for Spring weddings.

…………………….The “Designer Gallery Show” for each new season was now becoming a tradition. The designers were planning on it and so were the customers. We all knew it was going to be an exciting presentation….For Feb. 07…..starting on the top row was a suede jacket in three fabulous bright colors….RED, MARINE BLUE and GREEN. The jacket had a side panel for a gentle shape The beautiful hard wear was the focal point. The quality of the “TURN KEY” closures was high end, and used on hand bags. They went down the front of the jacket, on the patch pockets and even on the sleeves. This eventually became a reorder jacket….The sweater to the right was in a new yarn. It was a rayon yarn that had a very high twist, and a dry hand almost like a matte jersey but heavier. Everyone loved it. What made this super special was the HORIZONTAL top stripes that went from the hem of one sleeve straight across  the body to the hem of the other sleeve WITHOUT AN ARMHOLE SEAM!. It had a boat neck and 3/4 sleeves…..It came in RED with NAVY, NAVY with IVORY and MARINE BLUE with RED….It was simple but very special because of the yarn and unexpected construction……The next sweater was really a sweater jacket because it was in a MILANO STITCH which is more like a double knit fabric. It had contrast bands down the front and at the hems of the bottom and sleeves. It also had contrast bands outlining the pocket flaps [I can’t remember it there were real pockets, but I would doubt it because of the bulk]. The cardigan front and pocket flaps had beautiful Gold domed buttons with a center domed Pearl. This was a button I created at AK and had it reproduced for Linea. It was to become a signature button that I used again and again. The cardigan came in IVORY, NAVY and BUTTERCUP…..I believe the Ivory came with Tan trims…….The bottom center sweater jacket was 100% COTTON. It was in a 3 or 5 gauge which gave the sweater jacket weight. It was the perfect early spring cardigan to wear with a TN and jeans. We made it in IVORY, NAVY and RED. It had 7 signature Gold Knot buttons…..again from my AK archives…………Last but not least, to the extreme left was a Boucle jacket. It came in RED, NAVY and IVORY [you think there’s a color theme going on with this group!]. The entire jacket was piped with gold cording and had the gold knot buttons……To coordinate with the jacket there was a silk and nylon, scoop neck, elbow sleeve ENR button front sweater. The buttons were smaller versions of the knot buttons in Gold. This was a fabulous sweater and reordered a few times…….Actually, there were many reorders in this group.