Great Find - Imoga for Tots

Now that I have two kids and started branching out into baby for my Stacia collection, I'm always on the look out for great new kid's lines. An old friend from my not-so favorable past at The Limited emailed me the other day to reconnect. We both worked at The Limited in the-mid 90's - lured out to Ohio from NYC with thoughts of grandeur (big paychecks, signing bonus perks, a car, and designer "titles"). What a joke and a horrible experience in my design career! We all came running back to NYC in less than 11 months with our tail between our legs. But that's another story...in any case, I'm happy to reconnect with a fellow knitwear designer, Heajung Chung, who now designs and owns the fabulous kid's line Imoga. Her line is both refreshingly clean and free of cutesy embellishments and sport's themed logos. These are the clothes I'd want to put on my kid's back (besides a Stacia sweatertee, of course!) Her line is Asian inspired with subtle references to her Korean heritage, infused with Western wear-ability and the latest fashion trends. But don't worry, your kid won't look all tarted up in a trendy, mini-version of the Pussy Cat dolls (I'm so sick of seeing toddlers sexed up in mini-me clothes and if I see another rock star tee on a kid I'm going to puke). And thankfully no sign of frou frou bells n' whistles and stereotypical pinks and blues that are pretty much your choices in stores today. I love Imoga's clean lines, fun colors and patterns, and smart sensibility. I can only hope and aspire to grow my baby line as well!

A Designer's Day of Rest

I know I may not be saving the world and being a designer is not exactly rocket science, but yes, even such frivolous jobs as designing clothes can be exhausting to say the least. I finally decided to take a day of rest of sorts (actually only 2 hours of rest in between boxing orders!) My favorite, low-key spa here on the Westside is Willow Spa. Love, love their California bungalow setting with all the tropical bamboo, Moroccan seating, and tranquil music. They have their own little oasis in the back where you can sip your green tea, flip through InStyle, and have your feet soaked in rose petal water - what bliss! I had the 90 minute green tea/lime bamboo body balance massage - highly recommended by Me! I've tried all the Santa Monica hotel spas and Burke William's chain spa, but I still keep coming back to Willow. I like that it's small and intimate, almost like you're in someone's home or tropical backyard (I almost wish I could live in this cool little bungalow!)

The low-key spa atmosphere reminds me of my favorite spa back in Brooklyn, Area on Smith Street. Area was my neighbor, next door to my Brooklyn boutique, Stacia New York. There was nothing better than hopping next door for some yoga or a massage after work! A small, intimate spa, that you should definitely check out the next time you're in NYC. They also have expanded their retail storefront beyond the Dr. Hauschka products (love their lavender massage oil!) to include a full-on kid's store. Check out their site for more information - www.areabrooklyn.com - there isn't a product or service they don't provide; they do it all over there!

Unfortunately, I'm already due for another massage. After boxing up more orders (my back is killing me!) and hunching over my computer all night doing my Fall production order, I'll need to go back to Willow Spa sooner than later!

Stacia on ABC's The View

Today the lovely and very funny co-host of ABC's The View, Joy Behar, donned a Stacia bamboo space-dye top for 'The View Goes Green' show. Part of an eco-awareness segment that aired today, on St. Patrick's Day, the co-hosts either wore green or wore "green" fashions made of bamboo and organic cotton. Joy wore one of our best-selling Eco-spacedye styles in a 100% sustainable bamboo yarn, the beach tunic in Big Sur. Great choice, and Joy wore it well! Check out more of our sustainable bamboo knits on our web site under the Eco-Spacedye heading - an easy and chic way to go green this Spring.

Stacia Baby Grows

Stacia Baby is sprouting and growing! I want to welcome our newest member to Stacia, The Dressing Room showroom, who will be our new West Coast rep for Stacia Baby. The Stacia baby line is expanding its presence to both coasts now (and even Japan with our new Japan distributor). Thanks to one of our new accounts, Ron Robinson's Life Size stores, we were recommended to this great LA showroom that currently handles such high-profile baby lines as Splendid and City Threads (makers of those cool baby hats that say "Brooklyn" and "Malibu"!) I am so happy to have them represent my kid's line here on the West Coast and look forward to expanding the baby line and having it stand on its own from my women's collection!

This weekend is the big Children's Club Show at the Javits Center in NYC, where our fabulous East Coast rep, ESP Showroom (also reps the charming French kids line, Hartford), is debuting our new Fall 2008 collection for babies and toddlers. I'm very excited about presenting the new bamboo/cotton (your baby is going to love the feel of this fabric!) and eco-spacedye bamboo Sweatertees, and a retro-inspired merino wool collection. We had such a great response to the women's Fall collection at Coterie, that I'm anxious to see if the same goes for baby (we use the same fabrics and colors for both lines- perfect for "mommy & me" pairings!)

Coincidently, we just shipped out the new Spring Stacia Baby collection to stores on both coasts. It sure looks cute! We just added these goodies on shopstacia.com, in case you want to buy direct. And, I'll also be listing our baby stores on the site soon so you can see if we're in a store near you. Isn't Kaiulani cute (sorry, I'm a little biased!)