(Long Island, NY) Mercedes-Fashion Week kicked off this past Friday, February 2, 2007. Seventy-seven fabulous designers will present their Fall 2007 Collections showcasing their amazing designs in the Bryant Park Tents.
On Saturday February 3rd I was invited to the last show of the evening The Venexiana Fashion Show in the Salon. During the show I sat in awe of the 49 stunning designs that were shown in the Venexiana Fall Collection strutting down the enormous runway.
Backstage I had a chance to interview the designer Kati Stern behind the Venexiana brand.
Designer Kati Stern with Cognac Wellerlane
“Kati darling, what is the inspiration for the Fall collection we are seeing today?”. Kati, glancing back at me with her sexy smoldering intense kohl rimmed eyes expressed “I was watching TV very late at night about a couple of months ago and it was a vintage movie starring Hollywood Legend Barbara Stanwyck that inspired me to create this wonderful collection”.
Ms. Stern was so mesmerized by Movie Star Barbara Stanwyck that she could not remember the name of the movie, what year the film was made, who the costume designer was or even the other actors that starred in the film with Barbara Stanwyck but felt compelled to design a whole collection based on the beautiful designs that were created for Ms. Stanwyck to wear during the film.
I also inquired “Is it true that restoring a second home in Venice influenced you to create the Venexiana line?”.
Venexiana Fall Collection strutting down the enormous runway
Ms. Stern expressed that the house which she refers to as her Palazzo Priuli is from the 1300’s. It has its own spirit and is incredibly beautiful. She also mentioned that Hungarians who lived there a thousand years ago originally owned her home. She went on later to explain that her home is not a house, it’s her friend. It’s really a person. “It has a staircase I can’t even describe”.
There are only two or three of them remaining in Venice, from the late 1300s, she so eloquently expressed. This elegant Venetian Palazzo inspired her to create the Venexiana label a recipe mixture of antiquated sexiness and intense high glamour merging the two metropolises Manhattan and Venice thus Venexiana.
A winner of various distinguished awards as a fashion student and a music prodigy from the age of four, Kati decided to follow a career as an architect and interior designer. After working with textures, colors and diverse materials she decided to go back to her original passion, designing beautiful fashions. She began by creating costumes for the Carnevale in Venice, and then went on to launch her own line.
Venexiana Fall Collection strutting down the enormous runway
Her creations are a mixture of unusual effects and extraordinary elements. Her designs are a combination of lace with leather and fur collaborated with metal. Her collections are always diversified running the gamut from rocked out glam to classic chic. Fall 2007 exudes the romantic elegance of old world Hollywood glamour.
Fall 2007 collection is all about feminine dressing in luxury fabrics – charmeuse, silk, chiffon, leather and fur for day into evening. The subtle chic of autumn shades of chocolate, loden and greys are woven throughout. Glamour rules darlings!
The Venexiana brand is not for the faint of heart, Lil’Kim is just one of the many outrageous celebrities that adore wearing Venexiana. For more information, please visit http://venexiana.us
