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| April 2006
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ALUMNI PROFILE |
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Carla Nemiroff, CAS/BA ’01, has been offering friends and family fashion advice for years now. Now she gets paid for it. The AU graphic design major turned wardrobe re-modeler is founder and president of Carla’s Closets, a blooming Manhattan-based business that helps people take charge of their wardrobes by eliminating the items no longer flattering or in style and focusing on new ways to wear favorite items paired with a few great staple items. Nemiroff was between appointments when she stopped for a few minutes to talk shop about her eye – and love - for shopping and helping people look their best. “I was assisting the president of an animation firm, doing the 9-to-5 corporate thing” she remembers, “and after about a year I was miserable and left. In the meantime, I started – just for fun – helping friends and family members with their wardrobe and had some friends who said it was extremely helpful.” One of those friends was fellow AU alumna Julie Mirlicourtois, SOC/BA ’01, who was “the classic case of someone who has a closet filled with tons of cool clothes but ‘nothing to wear’,” says Nemiroff. More than a few of Mirlicourtois’ colleagues at CBS noticed the change in her wardrobe and her new look. Carla’s Closets was born. A year and hundreds of clients later, Nemiroff says her closet remodeling services are great for all ages and stages of life. “I work with moms, working women, recent grads… Most women doing a 9-to-5 job need a great boot, great jeans, great black pants, and great pumps. Of course personal style comes into play. But overall I find people need the same staple items. Accessories we can play around with. If you’re young you may want some funky accessories, but if you work in a corporate environment you might need to keep more conservative,” she says. Without giving away too many of her trade secrets, Nemiroff volunteers that she’s constantly sending clients to Bloomingdales to get a great pair of jeans. “The $95 jeans really do look that much nicer,” she says. Among her favorites are brands ‘Seven’ and ‘Citizens of Humanity.’ “They look great, and they make enough different cuts that people can find things that work for them,” she says. Overall, people get used to looking at themselves the same way and have a hard time recreating a new look, says Nemiroff. It’s really easy to make an improvement with a fresh set of eyes, she adds, "and they’re so excited once they do,” she says. One of the changes she makes most often: Helping women get rid of their high-waisted, tapered leg, rarely flattering and no longer in style “mom jeans.” Nemiroff says launching her closet makeover business has been a great learning experience. “You think you’re going to put up your Web site and people will come knocking, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to continue marketing yourself and meeting new people. It’s not a sure thing, you have to keep working on it.” The number of appointments she takes each week varies, but it’s generally a good five to seven clients. At $250 per initial closet consultation and "wardrobe edit," her business continues to grow. Once she goes through someone’s closet and they decide on what to keep and what to donate, the tax return usually covers the fee anyhow, she notes. Once a client’s closet is cleaned out, she makes a master list of what to buy. “Once your wardrobe has been minimized, you can better see what you need,” she says. "That way, women and men are not just buying what they like, but also what they need,” she says. She'd be happy to give AU alumni a 10 percent discount, too, she adds. -Melissa
Reichley |
Graphic
Designer Turns Drab Wardrobes into Fabulous Fashion Finds - One Closet
at a Time