Design house Alice + Olivia announces its partnership with Neiman Marcus for their first ever see-now-buy-now runway show Wednesday, April 13 at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles. This highly anticipated show will highlight the company’s spring 2016 collection, which was shown at the recent New York Fashion Week shows. Twelve pieces from the exclusive collection will be available for purchase at www.aliceandolivia.com and neimanmarcus.com. Neiman Marcus will also have a selection of the runway styles, along with several exclusive items, including two of Alice + Olivia’s X Grateful Dead pieces.
The design brand of Alice + Olivia was founded in 2002 by Stacey Bendet, who is also the CEO and creative director of the New York-based contemporary clothing company.She has spent months assembling a curated offering of buy-now items to send down the runway that would meet the needs of her customers and allow women to express their own personal style. The designs incorporate a look that’s whimsical, flirty, sexy and sophisticated. Bendet’s goal to create the perfect pair of pants soon developed into a full lifestyle collection that includes ready-to-wear, evening gowns, shoes, accessories and handbags. Her clothes are worn by First Lady Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry and Sarah Jessica Parker. To create her vibrant pieces, Bendet works with impeccable details, bold colors and unique prints.
Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director of Neiman Marcus, will co-style the runway show with Bendet. The show will also be streamed live from L.A. on both Alice + Olivia’s and Neiman Marcus’ social channels, including Periscope and Facebook Live. Beginning Friday, April 15, the partners will each host videos of the runway show.
The announcement of Bendet’s foray into the see-now-buy-now runway follows on the heels of the CDFA’s release of the results of the Boston Consulting Group’s study of the future of New York Fashion Week on its website, www.CFDA.com, earlier this year. The study revealed that there is a unanimous consensus for a change to the old Fashion Week system. Results also uncovered the call for designers to deliver collections to consumers in a format that is rooted in in-season relevancy. These are the reasons behind the concept and idea to host the Alice + Olivia see-now-buy-now runway show.
“It’s exciting to be involved in the forefront of a new fashion phenomenon with Stacey,” said Downing. “She has always been wildly intuitive, with the ability to anticipate her fashionable customers’ wants and desires. Creating a highly curated, creative, clever and in-season fashion show, as only Stacey can do, she provides a buy-now-wear-now mantra that makes sense for her fashion followers that love and adore what she designs.”