Fun from NYC

Our buyers had a great market trip last week in New York. The top picture is from the Ports 1961 showroom. Their deck overlooks the Hudson River. We (Deb W, Judy S, Patrick & Rebecca) couldn’t help ourselves and take just a moment for a beautiful photo opt! The middle picture is Nina Garcia, one of the judges from Project Runway. We ran into her at the Calvin Klein showroom. The last picture is of Patrick looking at collection sketches in the Isaac Mizrahi showroom. We will be having a trunk show with Isaac Mizrahi on October 7 & 8 with the ability for you to order from the Spring 2010 collection. Also, a little restaurant note if you are going into the city…check out Pescatore Spuntino at 957 Second Ave between 50th and 51st. Yummy Italian…www.pescatorerestaurant.com.

Busy Week at Leigh’s!

I’m going to have to be honest with you….my camera decided to go swimming while I was in Florida. My camera is having emergency surgery at the Sony repair center in Laredo, Texas. You and I may have to suffer with a few weeks of no blog pictures. Unless….I lasso Patrick into taking pictures for me…yes, that is a possibility! Ok, now that we’ve discussed that, let’s talk about what we have going on at Leigh’s this week:
Trunk Shows
April 14 & 15  Douglas Hannant Consistently sophisticated and elegant, Douglas’s collection was one of our favorites of Fashion Week this year. Stunning piece after stunning piece of fabulous fashion!
April 14 & 15  Weil Direct from Paris, this beautiful line showcases tailored jackets in beautiful fabrics with great detailing. Classic with a twist. They have been compared to Chanel, Christian Lacroix and Escada in look, but price pointed a bit more friendly.
April 15 – 18 Stephen Dweck Designer jewelry. Semi-precious collector’s pieces, one-of-a-kinds, and much more, hand chosen for Leigh’s by Stephen Dweck showroom in NYC.
April 16 Mettie’s Spring Party Join us at 5:30pm for our Mettie’s Party. Enjoy refreshments while watching a fashion presentation on the latest trends from our Mettie’s area. Register to win lots of great prizes. All day we will be having jean fit clinics from Not Your Daughter’s Jeans and Christopher Blue. We also will be offering a 20% discount store wide! You won’t want to miss out!
Thursday, April 16 & Friday, April 17 Yves Saint Laurent Make-up Event YSL make-up artist, Marco Kozar, will be in store to debut YSL’s latest looks – fresh from the runways of Paris. Gift with $75 YSL purchase. Call Carol or Riese to book your appointment 616.942.6300 or e-mail cslomp@leighsfashions.com
We hope to see you this week! Once again, thank you for shopping locally with us!

Algo Trunk Show!

We are hosting a trunk show with Algo today and tomorrow. Algo is a beautiful collection from Switerland…lux fabrics, impeccable tailoring, wonderful design. I had several other specialty stores throughout the nation recommend Algo to me. Algo distributes world wide in fine specialty stores. Pictured above is the president of the company, Carlo Goetschel. Carlo is knowledgeable and charming…a fierce combination!! He has been raving about how beautiful our store is and how pleased he is to be here. We would love to have you look at the collection. I think you will be impressed and understand what a coup it is for us to have this trunk show!

We’re Back!

pic1: Pamella Roland runway show…my favorite look! pic2: Paris Hilton at Pamella Roland pic3: Kellie Pickler and Rebecca Wierda pic4: l-r Judy Scales, Rebecca Wierda, Patrick Plank, Erin Gravelyn & Deb Wurfel
We had a great week in market! We had a itinerary that was jammed. We started our first appointments at 8am and finished most days at 7-8pm. However, we did manage to go to a few runway shows. Of course, we wouldn’t miss Pamella Roland. I have pictures above. Her collection looked amazing! She also had a lot of celebrities in attendance. It was crazy when Paris and Nicki Hilton walked in…photographers swarmed them! Kellie Pickler was also there and I was able to take a picture with her – fun! She is so sweet!
I also am showing you a picture of us at dinner. We finished Wednesday night down in SoHo. We were exhausted and wet….we had been walking in the rain all afternoon and never had time for lunch. We treated ourselves to a fabulous dinner at Cafe Falai. It’s an Italian restaurant known for homemade pastas and pasties…mmmm!!! I would highly recommend it to you if you’re going to be in NYC soon.
This week we will be placing our orders for fall…I can’t wait for you to see the best of the best this fall!

New Charles Chang Lima

Fabulous! This is the adjective I use to describe the new Resort 2009 Charles Chang Lima that is in our store. The fabrics, the detailing….wow! Charles designs wearable, chic and understated sportswear for the discerning client to wear in her daily life. I’m sure you’ll like it as much as I do!

High Customer Turn Out for Election Day, Tax Free Day Party!

Pic 1:  Sandy Gores votes for change…changing her fragrance that is!  Pic 2:  Patrick Plank mixing it up!

Leigh’s was hoppin’ yesterday!  In conjuction with election day, we offered our customers tax free shopping and a great party to attend after voting.  There was positive energy through out the store, yummy drinks and food to enjoy, a St. John trunk show, give aways and much more!  Customers were ready to shop!  The Leigh’s team had a blast…we hope you did too.  Thanks for joining us!

Couture For A Cure Is A Huge Success!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pic 1: Live runway shot.  Pic2:  Deb Clark, Leigh’s Lead Buyer, our models for the event and Patrick Plank.  Pic 3:  Designer Brian Wolk, Carol Van Andel, Designer Claude Morais, Rebecca Wierda, Patrick Plant  Pic 4: Guests enjoying lunch.  Pic 5:  Behind the scenes, Mandi, Laura Mercier make-up artist and Leigh’s Carol Slomp get the models looking their best

What an amazing event Couture For A Cure was today!  Some 175 guest attended the fashion show hosted by Dave and Carol Van Andel and Leigh’s.  It featured the best of fall from Leigh’s and a sneak peek at Ruffian’s 2009 spring collection.  Today’s event was to raise funds for important research and science education at the Van Andel Institute.  It was held in the grand gallery of their facility.  Huntington Bank was the lead sponsor.  Guests enjoyed Naya’s bag lunches around bistro tables, were able to get their make-up touched up at the Laura Mercier table and purchased raffle tickets for a beautiful brooch from Hoffman Jewelers. Then everyone took their seats and were treated to a New York style runway show!  Great fashion!  Great Food!  Great Fundraiser!

Couture For A Cure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture above are designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais from Ruffian.  They are just in from New York today.  They have been fitting models all day at Leighs’ in preparation for Couture For A Cure.

Leigh’s is excited to be partnering with the VanAndel Institure to raise funds for important research and science education.  The luncheon and fashion show are tomorrow at VAI.  It’s a New York style runway show featuring  the best of fall fashion from Leigh’s and showcasing the Spring 2009 Ruffian collection from designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais. Ruffian has had their label featured in Paris Vogue, New York Times, Harpers Bazaar and Elle just to mention a few!  They are a favorite with our customers and will be hosting their trunk show at Leigh’s on Monday.  Interested in tickets to Couture For A Cure?  Go to www.vai.org.

Trunk Show Season Is Upon Us

Ahhh…yes…we love trunk shows!  We thought it might be a good idea to explain what a trunk show is and why you might enjoy it too.  When we go into New York to place our “buy” of merchandise for the store, we visit many different designer/vendor showrooms.  When we are in the showroom, we select items that we feel our customers will love, but of course we can’t buy the entire collection.  So, this is where the trunk show comes in.  If we feel the collection has so many great pieces, we will invite that designer to have a trunk show at our store.  They then bring the entire collection and you, our customer, can select pieces for yourself….just as if you were in the New York showroom. 

As a reminder, when we are having trunk shows in the fall, typically you are seeing the spring collection (and vise versa).  Some might question why they would want to look at spring and summer clothing when you just finished changing your closet over to fall.  Well, the best reason is because it is fresh in your mind what your wardrobe might have been missing….a great dress for spring break,  a fabulous pair of capris with a fun top for a dinner out with someone special.  Most everything you order from a trunk show will arrive in our store December – March….right when you’ll need it for the that get away to some where warm or just as Michigan starts to warm up. 

You may still have questions and, if so, feel free to stop by the store and check one out.  Our trunk show schedule is listed on our web site and our fashion consultants are more than happy to assist you in further explanation!   In fact, today and tomorrrow we are having a Zenobia trunk show, this would be a great opportunity for you to come and see a trunk show.

Nigel Barker and Laura Mercier’s Luis Soto Visit Leigh’s!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pic 1:  Betsy, Pamella and Elissa DeVos with Nigel Barker. Pic 2: Luis Soto consults a customer.  Pic 3: WLHT DJ Kim Carson, Luis Soto and WLHT make-over winner.  Pic 4: Rebecca Wierda, Pamella DeVos, Nigel Barker before stepping out into the party. Pic 5: Joe DeVries mixing some music. Pic 6:  Party pic!  Pic 7:  Maria and Pamella DeVos, Nigel Barker and  Kim Schermer.  Pic 8  Katie and Anna Oostema with Nigel.  Pic 9:  Mimi Amash with Nigel.  Pic 10:  Meg Willit get’s an autograph from Nigel for a Make-A-Wish child.  Pic 11:  Steve and Julie DeLanoy with Nigel.

Thursday was a big day at Leigh’s!!!!  We started the day off with our Laura Mercier make-up event featuring Global Make-up Artist Luis Soto.  As the day progressed, anticipation ran high for our cocktail reception in which Designer Pamella DeVos of Pamella Roland and Nigel Barker (noted fashion photographer and judge on America’s Next Top Model)  arrived to meet and greet with our customers!  Leigh’s was rockin’!  We had a male model greeting guests at the door, a DJ mixing music for us, Erika’s Deli Bistro Market served fabulous drinks and hors d’oeuvres, Laura Mercier make-up artists were giving everyone fresh fall looks, Cynthia Rose and Pamella Roland chiffon gown collection trunk shows for everyone to view and then there was Nigel totally game for taking pictures with Leigh’s customers and friends.  I’ve been getting e-mail after e-mail on how much fun everyone had and what a great party it was!!  I have lots more pictures than I’m showing, so if you want to have yours, just stop by the store and I’ll have them ready by Monday afternoon.  Thanks to everyone for attending and making it a successful event!

Go to Nigel’s blog to see Nigel’s perspective on his visit to Grand Rapids for the Grand Rapids Art Museum

http://www.nigelbarker.tv/blog/index.php