“Do I have to give my last name?” Tori asked during a recent visit to Kmart’s showroom in SoHo.This writer assured her that anonymity would be fine. Her first name would suffice. The senior designer was busy working with her team finalizing the designs for the fall 2010 collections of the Attention brand, which provides uptown style for trendy women of all ages. The line will be showcased during New York Fashion Week this month.
A fashion enthusiast since age 7, Tori smiled and started to relax when she spoke of her family and how they influenced her career choice. “I was always around fashion growing up. My older sister, she was a big fashion influencer … the epitome of all trends in the ‘80s and ‘90s. She was a black Madonna when [the pop singer] was the ‘Material Girl’ and when rap became big — the era when Cazal glasses and Sergio Valente jogging suits [were popular]. My grandmother and aunts were always shopping, dressing nice and never wearing the same thing to church on Sundays. My grandmother always wore gloves and a hat to church.”
The Michigan native traded Motown for the Big Apple after graduating from Michigan State University to enroll at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The self-proclaimed Queen of Barbie dolls’ first job was with Dana Buchman. Then she moved on to work with Kenneth Cole and Tibi, before trying her hand as an independent designer. Tori has been with Kmart for the past two years and finds her biggest inspiration is detaching from her normal routine and environment. “I went to Italy last summer … for 10 days, I could have come up with 10 collections. Movies are really [inspirational] … particularly the iconic ones, like the ‘70s-era James Bond movies.” –yvette caslin
Go behind the scenes by logging on to www.KmartDesign.com, which offers a refreshingly honest, unexpected peek into the world of the outstanding talent at the Kmart Design studios in SoHo (New York) and Chicago.
