Nanette Lepore

Nanette Lepore was born in 1963 in Youngstown, Ohio, is a well known fashion designer based in New York City.

Lepore grew up in an eccentric family. Her father James, was a professor of art and noted painter. She and her family would travel to California annually and make trips along that state's portion of the famed U.S. Route 66. These trips actually made Lepore feel like a gypsy, a feeling she still has about herself.

Trips to California made Lepore enjoy traveling, and she moved from Ohio to New York City, where she began to develop her professional career as a designer. She attended New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in design.

However, Nanette knew she wouldn’t be satisfied until her creations bore her own name. In 1992, bolstered by a $5,000 loan from her dad to strike out on her own, Nanette set up shop in a penthouse office in the garment district. It quickly became an incubator for poets and painters who would bounce ideas off one another while stargazing on the roof.

Lepore gained celebrity in the fashion world after she returned to California, opening a boutique store in Los Angeles and selling her outfits to clients in Europe and Asia. She also began to have her items featured in the famous American store chain, Neiman Marcus. She also gained renown for her flair on the runway and began to attract stars.

In spring 2007, Nanette Lepore decided to do a collection of shoes with Keds. Mischa Barton was the face of the line.

She is sold across America in Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Macy's to name a few. She has boutiques in Chicago, Boston on Newbury Street, New York in Soho and Madison Avenue, two in LA, one in Caesar's Palace Las Vegas, in Tokyo, one in Friendship Heights in Washington D.C., and a storefront in London town just off the famed Portabello Road.

She has a daughter, Violet, who is 9 years old.

She is mentioned in The Pussycat Dolls song, "Magic".

Nanette launched her first fragrance line “Nanette Lepore” in March 2003. In Fall 2006, Nanette’s first comprehensive shoe collection launched internationally.