“Style helps distinguish you. It’s a great potential opportunity that people tend to leave by the wayside” Michelle Obama
There is a very good reason for the connection between celebrity & fashion. Sales & Advertisement. Ever since socialite Jackie Onassis repeatedly wore Oscar de la Renta to glitzy events (and was always the best dressed), and Audrey Hepburn became friends with Hubert de Givenchy, turning the label into the most desired fashion house of the 1950s to today, both sides have learned how to promote one another.
And celebrities aren’t in it just for the free goods, wearing the right gown can do wonders for their career, being in the fashion spotlight ensures they are on the best lists for crucial networking and exposure opportunities.
The track record proves, right or wrong, that fashion can be an advocate.
How does this apply to you? Well, chances are you’ve done things to improve your lot. You’ve spent a ton of money on the right education. You have the perfect backdrop story for first meetings and polite conversation, you’re ambitious, poised sophisticated and charming, and you only lack the right connections, to enter the right circle of influential friends to take your life to the next level.
In cases like this style makes a strong first and last impression. It helps you make an entrance, be remembered, and make the best event lists to expand your connections.
When it comes to fashion “go quite crazy or terribly strict” Jacqueline de Ribes
This is the way de Ribes described her style to Vogue in 1959. It is a good rule of thumb, one that saw her attend parties dressed as an angel complete with wings and, at other times, in the simplest of column dresses. In de Ribes’ world, both looks are just as chic.
Today Jacqueline de Ribes is the subject of a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her extraordinary life which included managing a ballet company in New York and acting as a television producer meant that she attended a hell of a lot of parties. Clothes were worn for all manner of occasions, created by Pierre Balmain, Bill Blass, Yves Saint Laurent and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Her style left such a lasting impression that she garnered a retrospective that ensures her legacy lives on.
If you’re looking for a role model, there are plenty out there. Here are some of today’s most influential women who use fashion to their advantage.
Elizabeth Kurpis, 32, is first and foremost, a power lawyer. Work takes a front seat, even on gala evenings, which she attends in high style with her husband, Jon Kurpis.
Mellody Hopbson, 46, known for her chic and simple looks, favors Louis Vuitton. She is the president of Ariel Investments (an investment management firm) and the Chair of the Board of Directors of Dreamworks Animation. And, she is married to famed creator and director, George Lucas.
Kyle DeWoody, 29, has followed in the foot steps of her mother, Beth Rudin DeWoody, as an avid supporter and collector of contemporary art. The cool girl, who recently traded her Manhattan digs for a repurposed Masonic temple in Fort Green, Brooklyn, is also the proprietor of The Grey Area, a gallery/marketplace for collaboration items created by modern artists.
Hannah Bronfman is the 26-year-old daughter of former Warner Brother’s head honcho, Edgar Bronfman. An entrepreneur, Bronfman has entered the world of fashion and technology. The creator of Beautified, Bronfman’s app is used to schedule same-day beauty services.
Claire Distenfeld is the 28-year-old doyenne behind FiveStory, the eclectic uptown womenswear shop, which recently teamed up with Tinker Tailor to offer one-off custom creations. She’s known for networking skills making her a fixture on the fashion week circuit.
