1.  Le Fash is known as an innovator in the equestrian apparel industry. How do you see Le Fash evolving in the future?

I am continuing to innovate new products and push the envelope with my brand. I think the equestrian fashion industry is in a great place from the innovators that have come out over the last 5-10 years in our market. We are launching a new technical shirting line for Spring 2017, which I am super excited about. I also look forward to developing an entire accessory line for horse and rider in the future.

2.  Why is it important to you to have your garments manufactured in NYC?

There are a variety of reasons I choose to manufacture here.

The first is that I feel that I am doing my part for our country. I am helping to keep the NY Garment Center in tact, giving Americans jobs and working with other small business owners to keep all of our businesses going. I think when people see that a brand is manufactured in NYC, they recognize this effort and extra costs associated, as opposed to outsourcing to other countries, and are thus willing to pay a few dollars more.

Secondly, I can manage quality control. I have the ability to walk into my factory, which is 4 blocks from the Le Fash offices, at any time and observe the work as it goes through the machines. If something is not 110% perfect when exiting production, I know it will be corrected and ultimately leave the warehouse perfect.  When a company manufactures overseas, this level of control is not possible and I won’t sacrifice my quality for a few dollars.

People who purchase the Le Fash brand know they are acquiring top quality and we stand behind our work. Everyone who works in collaboration with me does business this way.   I only do business with other people and companies that hold the same values including my fabric and trimming sources as well as my production company. This is why I love working with them!

3.  You recently introduced a short run of accessories under the Le Fash NYC label featuring your own commissioned image. How did you create this one-of-a-kind design?

I worked in collaboration with a NY based textile designer to create this image. We took a variety of my personal images of Jen Alfano and Miss Lucy from both the Central Park Horse Show, which we attended, as well others we had in our photo database. The pictures were pieced together and then drawn over with charcoal. We continually manipulated the charcoal sketched image, bleaching out certain spots, darkening others and moving each around to make it perfect.

When thinking of a scene we could create for the print, the Central Park Show came to mind because its so Le Fash- combining the city scape with a beautiful hunter- its a great homage to what my brand is all about and pioneered; stable to street wear.