Nanette Lepore, Milly Put Spring Collections To Work
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Designers Nanette Lepore and Michelle Smith of Lepore turned to women in the modern workplace as inspiration for their latest collections. NY1's Stephanie Simon filed the following report.It may look effortless but fashion is "hard work" at Nanette Lepore. While plenty of her clothes for spring are fancy and free, her looks also reflect a serious back-to-work mantra.
"Silhouettes are inspired by work aprons, and tying on your apron and going back to work and like manufacturing in America and getting us back to work," Lepore said.
Overall, Lepore's flirty take on utilitarian includes bright sundresses, and, for the first time, she's also taking a dip with old fashioned bathing suits with lots of floral prints and sunburst colors fresh from the meadow.
"She has a great mix of being very feminine, but still sort of trendy and cool and different. And I just love the way she cuts her stuff," said actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
"You can look casual, you can dress it up, you can wear it out on the town, you can wear it to work and that's why I love her, because she just fits my lifestyle so easily," said singer/entertainer Kristin Chenoweth.
Over at Milly, designer Michelle Smith is also focused on the working woman, make that the quirky working woman.
Inspired by famed American art collector Peggy Guggenheim, Smith is making her own modern art wearable masterpiece.
"She's a strong willed, successful woman before women were even really in the workplace. Definitely a trailblazer, but I love her quirky style sense," Smith said.
With contrasting colors, retro cuts, and textured tribal influences, Smith is making the 1950s modern again.
"I wear Milly a lot. I think it's someone who's fun, bubbly. They like to have a flirty type of look to them, they're into a lot of frills," said RenttheRunway.com Co-Founder Jenny Fleiss.
"Milly is definitely a little preppy, a little classy. I think it's that classy with an edge," said RenttheRunway.com Co-Founder Jenn Hyman.