Designer Profile: Nanette Lepore

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Nanette Lepore is a friendly, genuinely nice person who just happens to make drop-dead-gorgeous clothes, shoes and fragrances! Being the fantastic gal she is, Nanette recently took some time out of her schedule to chat with me about style.

Nanette's story is great proof that hard work really pays off! When I asked her how she began her line, she said: "I went to FIT and when I graduated I had a couple of short-lived jobs and I didn't have the right experience to get hired! So my husband encouraged me to go on my own and start a small shop in the East Village - which I did. But, the day I was supposed to sign the lease I had this interview at Ralph Lauren and that did not go well, so needless to say that was a good thing for me!"

Believe it or not, Nanette's company was started with a small sum of money that she was loaned from her family! She explained: "I borrowed $5,000 from my dad and my brother together, and then we kept borrowing a little more and a little more. And finally my father ended up mortgaging his house! We got so many orders right in the beginning and we needed the money to manufacture. And so fortunately he was willing to do that – he had faith. It took a long time to pay it back, though – that was kind of scary."

Her design style is fanciful, feminine and frilly, so it's not too surprising that Nanette finds her inspiration from the women around her. She explained: "My family is fun and we love to have parties and celebrate and we love to dress up, so I feel like the best inspiration is just how I live my life and how the women in my family are. We're always into being festive and feeling sexy, and I think it's just a tribute to being a woman and having fun."

I asked Nanette if she had any advice for shopping on a budget, and she gave me some great tips! She said: "I used to shop and shop and shop and shop until I found the perfect thing and then buy like one. And then if you get something really classic or the right trendy thing, then you can mix it up. I mixed a lot of vintage with my clothes that I would buy on sale, so I was a very careful shopper. Now I buy whatever I want which is really fun, but for a long time it was just really trolling the flea markets and finding that one really special thing."

Since she's such a fashion insider, I couldn't help but ask Nanette what trends she's loving now. She said: "This fall and winter I love the little feathers. I have a little feathered cardigan that I've been wearing a lot and it's really fun. And for next spring I think it's going to be the deep, bold bright colors - deep saturated solid brights."

I asked Nanette what advice she would give to others who would like to become designers, and she said: "I would say learn to sew, and take as many drawing and art classes as you possibly can. I think sewing is key – you can understand so much if you can put something together. That's something that people forget now with fashion - that it's kind of essential."