I had the pleasure of getting the scoop from the creator of Boy Meets Girl® and thought I would share this amazing line with all of you.
1. Who is Stacy Igel?
Abby Gardner of Fashionista.com, Glo.com & currently site Director of MarieClaire.com describes Stacy Igel as “a force of nature and one whose talent and drive I admire tremendously. What I love so much about Stacy is that, despite all her success, she's not afraid to get her hands dirty – in the course of a single day she’ll take on the role of accountant, salesgirl, PR guru, merchandiser, company psychiatrist and -- of course -- designer. That's how much she believes in her work. Basically, Stacy is the Boy Meets Girl® brand all rolled up into one dynamic little package.”
2. How did the concept for Boy Meets Girl start? The first time I met my husband’s parents was for dinner at their apartment. While they were giving me the tour, I noticed a picture frame containing silhouettes of their three children from when they were younger. My parents had a similar picture of my sister and I from when we were about the same age. I thought about us and how we still both had these young, playful, carefree versions of ourselves inside of us and I knew right then and there my brand would be called Boy Meets Girl® and that I’d use our silhouettes for the logo. The logo driven product came first and we have been growing the collection organically from there.
3. Where do you find your inspiration? I draw inspiration from a variety of eclectic influences: vintage clothing, the vibrant New York art and music scenes, Hollywood glamourati. As far as business mentors/role models goes, there’s Ellie Tahari, Donna Karen, Zandra Rhodes and Elsa Klensch, all of whom I’ve worked for and all of whom were hard workers in there own right even after they’d “made it.” That was an eye opener for me. I was smart enough to recognize that the hard workers were usually the individuals who got the big opportunities in life. They were also the ones who were prepared to capitalize on those opportunities.
Stylistically, I’m going to give you my holy trinity of influences. First,
Coco Chanel, who famously said “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses
only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the
way we live, what is happening.” I agree. I think that’s why I am so happy
working as hard as I do. Second, Kate Moss. Of course she’s a
beautiful and confident woman, but what I love about her is the way she
effortlessly transitions from eclectic vintage to high fashion. She never
looks like she’s trying to put an outfit together – everything looks like it
just naturally belongs on her body. Third, Patti Smith. She’s
stayed true to her edgy stylishness since the 70s. She’s unflappable.
Abby Gardner of Fashionista.com, Glo.com & currently site Director of MarieClaire.com describes Stacy Igel as “a force of nature and one whose talent and drive I admire tremendously. What I love so much about Stacy is that, despite all her success, she's not afraid to get her hands dirty – in the course of a single day she’ll take on the role of accountant, salesgirl, PR guru, merchandiser, company psychiatrist and -- of course -- designer. That's how much she believes in her work. Basically, Stacy is the Boy Meets Girl® brand all rolled up into one dynamic little package.”
2. How did the concept for Boy Meets Girl start? The first time I met my husband’s parents was for dinner at their apartment. While they were giving me the tour, I noticed a picture frame containing silhouettes of their three children from when they were younger. My parents had a similar picture of my sister and I from when we were about the same age. I thought about us and how we still both had these young, playful, carefree versions of ourselves inside of us and I knew right then and there my brand would be called Boy Meets Girl® and that I’d use our silhouettes for the logo. The logo driven product came first and we have been growing the collection organically from there.
3. Where do you find your inspiration? I draw inspiration from a variety of eclectic influences: vintage clothing, the vibrant New York art and music scenes, Hollywood glamourati. As far as business mentors/role models goes, there’s Ellie Tahari, Donna Karen, Zandra Rhodes and Elsa Klensch, all of whom I’ve worked for and all of whom were hard workers in there own right even after they’d “made it.” That was an eye opener for me. I was smart enough to recognize that the hard workers were usually the individuals who got the big opportunities in life. They were also the ones who were prepared to capitalize on those opportunities.
Stylistically, I’m going to give you my holy trinity of influences. First,
Coco Chanel, who famously said “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses
only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the
way we live, what is happening.” I agree. I think that’s why I am so happy
working as hard as I do. Second, Kate Moss. Of course she’s a
beautiful and confident woman, but what I love about her is the way she
effortlessly transitions from eclectic vintage to high fashion. She never
looks like she’s trying to put an outfit together – everything looks like it
just naturally belongs on her body. Third, Patti Smith. She’s
stayed true to her edgy stylishness since the 70s. She’s unflappable.
4. What would you like the Fashion Forward Journal readers to know about you?
Hometown: Chicago.
Occupation: Founder, Creative Director, Fashion Designer of Boy Meets Girl®
Education: University Of Wisconsin
(I also studied at the American School in London, and worked for Zandra Rhodes while there).
College major: Triple Major - Design/Merchandising/Business.
Working on launching my very first true E-commerce Website: I’d like our website’s e-commerce platform to become one of the most sophisticated yet user-friendly direct sales platforms in fashion. Of course, retail is crucial to our success and we want to continue to have a strong presence in key boutiques and department stores. That said, I think we would be doing the brand a disservice if we didn’t take advantage of our own website’s capabilities internally.
Website launch is May 23rd!
In the meantime, make sure to check out at www.boymeetsgirlusa.com and our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/BoyMeetsGirlUSA for my webseries Behind the Seams with Stacy Igel: The series name is Behind the Seams with Stacy Igel. It captures my life in building my brand Boy Meets Girl® and the many exciting things happening
I will also be speaking at the Fashion140 Conference this upcoming May at Lincoln Center! Here I will be discussing the impacts social media has on the fashion industry. Check out my blog for a contest to win two tickets to Fashion140.
6. Where do you see Boy Meets Girl in the fashion industry?
Obviously, we feel very strongly that we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. There are so many areas for us to expand - whether its new product categories, licensing and collaborations or building our presence abroad. Not that we’re in a rush. We’re going to grow organically and intelligently.
7. Where can you find Boy Meets Girl?
May 23rd on www.boymeetsgirlusa.com and speciality stores across the country all will be listed on www.boymeetsgirlusa.com
8. What did you feel when you featured your collection at New York Fashion week (for Spring/Summer 2011? answered it for this b/c this will be what is selling on my new ecommerce site))?
It was a whirlwind. Because I had just moved into my new offices with my new partners, we had decided not to do a show for [this/that] season. However, I got a call from my friend Claudine Gumbel at Think PR who had told me that she had been speaking with Starbucks and that she thought I should partner with them for a fashion week show with her and Style360. This call came in literally the day after I moved in to the new offices. We had about a month to prepare for this show - put the line together, get samples made, find additional sponsorship, cast models, style the show, generate press, send invitations, make a seating chart, etc. It was a lot of late nights, but thanks to my incredibly dedicated team, we made it happen. It was really a character building experience for all of us and it was well worth it in the end. We had an incredible show and we’re continuing to build off of the momentum generated at that show. It really was a dream come true. Can’t wait to do it again next season with a bit more time!
9. With this seasons inspirations of the Intrepid traveler what is your ultimate favorite piece from the collection? I love everything about jumpers. Of course I would have to choose the Boy Meets Girl® Missing Pieces Jumper (www.boymeetsgirlusa.com) . They are so versatile; you can pair them with platforms in the spring or tights in the winter! This specific jumper is extremely comfortable, and unique with its cutout details on the shoulders.
10. What is the most exciting experience so far with Boy Meets Girl? Wow, that’s a tough one. There have been so many amazing moments. I always get a kick out of seeing someone walk down the street wearing BMG. Even now, from time to time, I’ll stop them on the street and tell them who I am... or I’ll call my mom and tell her I saw some cute girl rocking my line while getting a coffee or at a concert or something. So yeah, I’ll admit that seeing a cute, happy girl out on the town wearing my clothes is life-affirming!
I also am so grateful I am able to give back through my brand. Working with several charities to raise awareness in collaboration with Boy Meets Girl® and me brings smiles all around.
11. What is your plans with Boy Meets Girl for the next collection without giving up all your secrets?
Think Brazil :) You can check out my guest editor feature on the pleat.com here http://stacyigel.blogspot.com/2011/01/check-out-my-guest-editor-feature-on.html
So having the pleasure of finding out about Boy Meets Girl® I would definitely recommend all of you to check out their website @ www.boymeetsgirlusa.com and find your favorite pieces as I have.
So keep checking back because Stacy Igel from Boy Meets Girl is going to host a fabulous giveaway of one of her pieces from the line starting June 1st !
