We're All Lifeguards


In L.A. we're all lifeguards, lifeguards of our oceans and beaches. The ocean and the beach lifestyle has always been an inspiration for me in my designs and it's what brought me from Brooklyn to Santa Monica. Unfortunately, our Southern California beaches are some of the most polluted beaches in the U.S. But thanks to organizations like Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation, awareness is key to cleaning up our beaches and coastlines.

This weekend my whole family - my mother, my husband, and my two children joined Heal the Bay at the Santa Monica beach near lifeguard stand #27 for Coastal Cleanup Day. We had a great time picking up cigarette butts, tiny pieces of styrofoam, plastic bags, cigarette lighters - you name it, we found it in the sand. It was a great turnout and over 300,000 pounds of trash was collected on Saturday. And it was a great education for my 5-year old son and 2-year old daughter about the importance of keeping the trash in the can and out of our ocean waters. Check out my husband's video of our morning at the beach. Enjoy! And hope to see you at next year's Coastal Cleanup Day!

Coastal Cleanup Day

Okay, there's no excuses folks. Tomorrow is Coastal Cleanup Day and I'm going to be out there at 9 am bending over and picking up trash, pregnant and all. You can do it too! It's a great way to educate your kids about picking up after themselves and the importance of keeping our beaches clean. My five year-old son and two year-old daughter will be out there too, picking up and counting the trash they collect. My son actually enjoys the process of tallying the kinds of trash he finds. We participated with him before at El Porto beach and he was surprised, even at age four, by all the cigarette butts and tiny pieces of styrofoam (excuse my French, but why haven't they banned that shit yet?) So let your conscious be your guide and get out there tomorrow (check out Heal the Bay's web site for beach locations near you) and help clean up our beaches. See you there at Santa Monica beach lifeguard stand #27 (P.S. I'll be the one with the big pregnant belly!)

Is Imitation the Sincerest Form of Flattery?

One of the best qualities of being a designer under the radar is that usually I escape unscathed from knock-offs. I'm not hosting huge runway presentations or splashy ads in magazines, so most cheap-chic lines don't even know I exist, which is great. But unfortunately, even Stacia can be a target. I guess the question is, should I be pissed or simply flattered that a celebrity knocked me off.

Since it's not a direct knock-off in silhouette, but rather an interpretation of my signature space-dye designs (a pointelle stitch and space-dyed colored pattern to be exact), maybe I should be flattered. The only risk really at this point is of brand confusion. Several customers, friends, and colleagues saw the infamous Tori Spelling 'Little Maven' dress on Ron Robinson's web site and on the Daily 10 and immediately thought it was a Stacia, but were surprised to find it was part of Ms.Spelling's new children's collection. The color is almost a replica of last Spring's "Heirloom" spacedye colorway that I custom-created and the pointelle pattern and edging looks hauntingly familiar to a pointelle collection I did last year.

The ironic thing is that I gifted Tori and her baby a year ago with a similar dress AND she bought one at retail from Kitson (hence the People magazine placement of my baby dress.) Most of my friends and customers were disgusted and upset, but honestly I think it's sort of a hoot. I'm rather flattered that Tori liked my design enough to market it for herself (and she'll probably do a better job at it than me!) My baby line has since hit the back burner thanks to the crummy economy, but maybe Tori will have better luck selling high-end specialty baby clothes than me (she certainly has the pocketbook to finance a lose if they don't sell at retail.) I only wish her the best of luck in her new venture and I'm confident that I have plenty of ideas still brewing in my head - enough to go around for everyone!

Stacia Pop-up Shop Success

Thanks to all that stopped by my pop-up shop a couple weeks ago to celebrate a new kind of shopping experience. I've transformed my Santa Monica design studio into a temporary retail store to host sample sales and special events for my customers. We all had a great night of shopping, eating, drinking, and hanging out in my design studio, women trying on clothes and gossiping like they were at a calmer Barney's Warehouse sale - how civilized! It was such a pleasure to meet some of my customers in person and to see some of my favorite creations find a home.

My samples are like my babies that I've nurtured over a design season and to know that they will now be enjoyed by someone is a great feeling. Women of all shapes and sizes walked out with something that put a smile on their face. I remember two gals in particular, friends who couldn't have had more different body types (one was super tall and thin, the other petite and athletic.) Both looked smashing in my sweetheart dress and would make any man's jaw drop. But the most important feature of my designs is that they make a woman feel good about herself and are super comfortable.

If you're in the hood, feel free to email me for a private appointment and shop in privacy and chat me up. I'm already planning our next event, probably in mid November just in time for the Holidays. I've got lots of Fall/Holiday sample goodies ready to brighten your holiday and that will go easy on your wallet. Check out my web site events page periodically for updates and sign up online to receive an invitation. I'm thinking cupcakes, cocktails, and dresses...

Behind the Scenes - Stacia Photoshoot

I just completed my Spring/Summer 2010 photo shoot and it was a blast! My photographer, Colette de Barros, could not have picked a more beautiful and fitting location to showcase my new collection - Palos Verdes, CA. Gorgeous! We could easily have been at Makapuu Beach on Oahu or in Havana, Cuba with the rocky reef-like tide pools and warm glowing light along the beach. It was such a thrill as a designer to finally see my vision complete on a beautiful, bubbly model frolicking on the beach in my colorful designs. It finally came together - my vision and designs that have been in my head for 5 months are now a reality.

Check out my new behind the scenes video of our long sunny day in Palos Verdes (yes, the amature video is courtesy of me and my point n'shoot camera, but thankfully my talented husband made something out of nothing with this little iMovie!) A special thanks to my wonderful, dependable friends, Thao Luu, Misa Hamamoto, Judith Toth, and the amazing and talented, Colette de Barros. I couldn't have done it without you guys! So here it is, the new collection coming soon to a store near you this Spring, and available for viewing at the upcoming NYC Fashion Coterie trade show.