Designer- Christina Makowsky

I had the honor of meeting New York designer- Christina Makowsky, while she was in town (and many thanks to the Kate and staff at Chic Little Devil Style House). After Christina graduated from FIT and discovered luxury brands such as Celine, Mugler, Gaultier and Alaia at the Pret-a-Porter show in Paris; she decided to open up three retail stores in Long Island. These stores only carried around ten-fifteen pieces of most of the high-end designers. She had Michael Kors in the store for eighteen years. Granted, back in those days, luxury brands were rare and since there was no internet, people weren’t aware of the brands as they are nowadays. It wasn’t until about eight years ago, that luxury brands did begin popping up everywhere and weren’t as rare. With that being said, Christina decided to close the stores and put her heart back into her roots- designing clothing. Her collections are apart of who she is and showcases her sense of style. Her pieces are classic with a hint of edge. She is a woman of value and she wants not only her children to grow up with the right values and to understand that you should buy only the best quality and to be able to wear it always, save and cherish it; but also wants her clients to recognize these values. That’s why her pieces aren’t sold in stores. She wants to keep her collections tight and precious and be made in America. Christina is a huge believer of being humanitarian. She feels that at this stage in her life, she wants to do something that will ‘leave a mark’ in the fashion industry. “Imagine if everyone did a little something through their career they were in?” At this time, she hosts private charity trunk shows with part of the proceeds going to a specific charity. The brand hosts Twitter campaigns with a charitable edge. Right now, they are working with Operation Smile. Anything donated throughout December is matched by O.S. So far, Christina has accumulated eight smiles. The Red Carpet Collection is only made up of ten gowns for ten actresses. If the actress wears the gown, the gown will be named after her and when the gown gets produced commercially, proceeds from the gown will go to the charity of the actress’s choice. How cool is that?! That concept is also what sets Christina Makowsky apart. Christina gets most of her inspiration from her clients from the past twenty-eight years of being in the retailing/designing business and their lifestyles. Her collections are always on-trend and classic, but never trendy. She believes that the clothes have to work for the wearer. “Every girl needs a wardrobe that works for them and can take them wherever they are going.” Her Winter, Spring and Resort collections are versatile enough to be broken up and mixed around with different pieces. “You can go from a t-shirt to ballgown, but I will try and always show you how to wear a little cocktail suit, break it up and wear out to dinner with jeans…” She showed me a beautiful suit jacket with jeweled detachable collar and cuffs and showed me how she would pair them with another piece from the collection. She loves working with double-face crepe and many of her pieces boast a raw edge (so fun and unique, very glam and rock). Another great fact about the Christina Makowsky brand is that the buttons boast her CM initials and are made in the great state of Rhode Island. She doesn’t have a favorite designer she looks up to, as she thinks that the best designers are the ones that are consistently true to their brand, which helps build a loyal client base. But she did say that Karl Lagerfeld stands out. She thinks he’s brilliant and took Chanel to a whole other level. Plus, he made her wedding gown (omg!!). She hopes to continue to evolve her brand and evolve the awareness of the ‘made in America’ stance. You, dear readers, can check out her website to shop or get more information. If you have a charity event and would like to have Christina do a trunk show, you may contact her as well.

**My photo of Christina and a peek at the collection**

https://plus.google.com/photos/114586689183281764864/albums/5683817985453874897

*These photos were used with permission by Kate of CLDStyle and Christina Makowsky*