Lady LUX

Designer, Chief Creative Officer, philanthropist, wife and mother, Lubov Azria is the epitome of the modern power woman – and, obviously, ridiculously stylish. On October 19, representatives from Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif. welcomed the BCBGMAXAZRIA icon - who describes her own style as “a connoisseur with a visionary attitude” - with open arms to present the glittering new Holiday 2012 collection.

Azria was impeccable in an artfully embellished pleated sheer panel BCBG dress for the occasion and interview with LadyLUX, effortlessly proving the statement ten times over. On any given day as CCO, she is busy inspiring the company’s vast team to reach its highest potential; all while ensuring each brand division maintains its core DNA. The nonstop job may have her bouncing from marketing to sales to design to public relations in a single day, but that hardly fazes this passionate designer.

“I work with so many different departments to make sure the vision stays in put. Like today for example, we’re at Nordstrom and I always have my sales force doing the seminars but I wanted to be a part of it because they are presenting our vision,” Azria shared. “It’s not about the clothes, it’s about everything else. Nobody needs more clothes. What we need is an experience.”

Keeping her promise, the new season certainly lived up to the expectation. BCBG Holiday 2012 reminisced back to the days of a young girl playing with Barbie and her captivating treasure chest full of tutus, sequins, lace, sparkling textures and more. The vision resulted in a flurry of shimmering sequin leggings and cocktail dresses, pleated batwing blouses, playful leopard prints, embellished blazers, sophisticated and colorful lace dresses, leather numbers and, well, enough options to last the entire season and then some.

“There are all the yummiest things like marabou and lace. It’s all the girliest and all the prettiest things. That was the idea. We wanted to create the most feminine, beautiful collection and we wanted to make sure everyone feels amazing,” she said. “Holiday means celebration. To me it means celebration of a woman’s style. It’s about celebrating my life and being with my family, celebrating everything you are about. We wait for those special days to celebrate life, but it should be celebrated all the time. The holidays give us an excuse to celebrate more often so that’s better.”

BCBG continues the festivities with themed “Naughty or Nice” gifts complete with a fun quiz to determine which reindeer’s personality and style best fits the shopper. Azria gushed over the “nice” presents, including cashmere sweaters, stunning necklaces and coffee holders, yet she may secretly lean the other way.

“I think some days I think I am nice and some days I think naughty. The naughty part I like the most because it has all these spikes and silver. We have this amazing spiked apple and there’s also headphones with spikes on it, so it’s really cool,” Azria described of the assortment.

The spot-on Holiday collection is an example of why the brand has been successful for over 20 years and has an impressive following of actresses, tastemakers and bloggers, yet the CCO confessed the global fashion brand isn’t trying to create trends. Instead, her secret formula considers a woman’s body shape, her needs and wants and, of course, the experience apparel can offer.

“When I think of creating clothes, I think of creating the best pieces I could possibly do. And in terms of the trends, there are certain things we see people gravitating towards but I think to me personally it’s about finding that piece that you can connect with. Because why is it that we go through a sea of merchandise and find that one piece? It speaks to you and it doesn’t even have to be a trend,” she explained.

With her expertise, visionary mentality and an open attitude, Azria clearly knows her stuff. Being in-tune with the BCBG girl has been a natural aspect of her as much as embracing the blogger culture was. Since the beginning of blogging, the brand has welcomed bloggers to runway shows and appreciated their message of personal style and attitude.

“If they are honest, if they like the product, if they appreciate something, they really write passionately about it. Honesty is something the market is missing and I hope its not being sold too much as a big business,” she said. “We all want to hear something that we can relate to and is true and I think the moment you start buying that the value will start decreasing.”

All trends and experiences aside though, Azria believes looking stylish isn’t without effort.

“The only way you look the best is if you plan ahead. That’s something you have to organize – your outfits are something you have to organize. Like the message on the plane, put the oxygen mask on yourself first and then on your child. Take care of yourself first and everybody else will be fine. Trust me,” Azria said.

Tagged in: lux exclusives, nordstrom, holiday 2012, apparel, events, bcbgmaxazria, los ángeles, bcbg, los angeles, south coast plaza, holiday 2012 collection, costa mesa, lubov azria,

Fashion / Features