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The Luxury of Online Shopping

Celebrity stylist Misa Stylist Misa Hylton never wanted just a fashion e-commerce business; she wanted a luxury online boutique where shoppers would feel engaged by an experience.

Frustrated by her own encounters shopping online, she endeavored to offer her customers rare, "show-stopping" items by little or unknown designers in a clutter-free environment. MadisonStarCouture.com is that place. With items that range from $90 to $1,300, the site offers clothing that changes seasonally and ranges from handbags and belts to dresses, tops, jackets and shoes--all artfully photographed without the use of models or props.

"I wanted to provide items that you couldn't find anywhere else and still access the types of clothes that I would typically provide for my clients," Hylton explains. "Celebrities like to start trends, to be refreshing, interesting, and exciting. Everyone knows where to find known designers. I wanted to offer something different."

Hylton's talent for finding extraordinary accessories and bold designs has been much of her styling appeal throughout her career since the early '90s. Having worked with a variety of celebrities, including Mary J. Blige, Kimora Lee Simmons, Serena Williams, Queen Latifah, Chris Rock, Missy Elliott, and Diddy, the 32-year-old, has also been credited with inspiring the current high-fashion styling of hip-hop artists.

On her site, Hylton is intimately involved in selecting and presenting items to her new and growing cyber clientele. "I do all the shopping," she says. "And I love everything I select. I love detail and accessories and clothing that makes a statement."

This fall, Hylton plans to launch a signature denim and T-shirt line. A mother of three, she adores the flexibility of this business--for her and her customers. Hylton can track progress early in the morning before her children awake, after they've gone to school, and in the evenings when they are in bed. She has also received sales orders from as far as Kuwait. "I would not have been able to receive such an international clientele with a boutique in Manhattan," she remarks. "I wouldn't have done it any other way."

Source: Black Enterprise

Misa Hylton Delivers the 411 on Fashion

By Kadidja Hinds, BET.com Staff Writer

Misa Hylton's reputation as the ultimate stylist-to-the-stars has grown immensely over the years. She has created fashions for Mary J. Blige,  Kimora Lee Simmons, Chris Rock, Missy Elliot, Lil' Kim, Diddy and many more. Only styling for select clientele now, Hylton is focused on continuing to expand her brand, which includes image consulting and costume design, while preparing for the next adventure in her life… www.MadisonStarCouture.com.

Making people look good and feel comfortable isn't just a job. It's a talent, and it takes much more than color coordinating, as Misa explains.

What separates you from other stylists?

I think that I was blessed to be able to do something that I was very good at. It's a talent, a God-given talent, and I do it passionately. Nothing is because of me. I owe it all to Him.

Did you go to school?

No. My talents were built on experience and opportunities. How do you teach styling? I have interns who have taken courses, and I'm always interested in sitting in on a class. How do you teach someone what to do when you're at the Grammy's and a catastrophe happens? Or get Kimora into red when she hates the color (but you know it looks fabulous on her)… or deal… with an artists' mother who's the manager… Or the cousin who has no fashion sense? I applaud people who take classes and educate themselves, but you really learn as you go. That's why internships and experience are very important. It's more than what color goes with what color. You have to know how to handle the business and deal with different people and different personalities.

What are key qualities a stylist should possess?

Not only should he or she be personable, but a hard-worker with problem-solving skills. You’re doing something very personal. You're a service-provider, and you have to keep your client happy.

From CEO of Chyna Doll Enterprises [an image consulting firm], to your very own online boutique, www.MadisonStarCouture.com, seems like the perfect transition. Is a store next?

I'm planning to expand little by little. I'm taking the grassroots approach and working at a pace that works with me financially, so I'm going step by step. I chose to launch an online store so everyone can access me, and it's so much easier than running a retail place. Plus, I have three children, and my oldest is turning 13. That's a whole new ball game: girls' preteen parties, a haircut whenever a hair looks out of place…. (Laughs) But, I’m excited about it. I think that everyone will appreciate the pieces I chose.

Yeah, tell us more about your online boutique.

I just want to introduce my sense of style to the masses. I'm a business woman, but I'm also a mom. I have to go from PTA meetings to fashion shows to glamorous nightlife events, so I have different looks for every facet of my life. I want every woman to be able to purchase from my collection.

I handpicked all the pieces. They're the best of the best. I want people to see and experience things that they haven't seen anywhere. I want other people to say, 'Wow, where did you get that,' because, ultimately, that's promotion for me. It's the perfect store. There's something for everybody who loves fashion. I have boots, dresses, leather coats, handbags, shoes, everything! I held off on denim.

Look out for Madison Star Denim in the Fall.

Is styling taking a back seat for now?

I have been styling for about 15 years now and that has been the stepping stone. I am a stylist at heart and that will never change, but I’m focusing on my future now. I’m older now and I want to do more. I want to feel good about what I’m doing.

Videos don't satisfy me creatively. I don't get anything out of styling half naked women and a rapper who wants to wear what Jay-Z wore in his last video. I'm not sitting at a video shoot for 16 hours. People under me can do that and are willingly do that. And the environment is not as positive as it use to be. The drugs, weed, half naked girls is not part of every video, but it does happen a lot now, unfortunately.

But, I'm a stylist at heart, so if someone calls who I've built a relationship with over the years needs me, then I'll be glad to do it. That's how I give back.

Will you miss the one-on-one relationship with clients?

I still have that. I work with Kimora, Gabrielle Union. I am the costume designer for the film, "The Perfect Christmas," with Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah, Charlie Murphy, Terrence Howard, Katt Williams…, so I have those relationships. I just love what I do. I haven't had any nightmares really. Thank God.

So ladies, instead of flipping through your favorite fashion mags and tuning into the Style channel for Fashion Week runway clips, you can log on and check out Misa Hylton’s online boutique, www.MadisonStarCouture.com in February 2007, for the hottest looks for Spring 2007.

BET.com - Jan. 8, 2007

Rolling with Style Gala

We invite you to consider: What would a St. John wheelchair look like? Rich in color, elegant and sophisticated, like their collections? How about a Kimora Lee Simmons Baby Phat wheelchair? Pink, funky and fabulous? And then there's Nicole Miller, Zang Toi, Marc Bouwer, Lloyd Klein and Thom Browne.

After New York's Fashion Week, you won't have to rely on your imagination. You can see firsthand that a wheelchair can be more than an empowering mobility aid, but also a bold fashion statement. Discovery Through Design, a not-for-profit organization founded by four remarkable women, has tapped a host of top designers to participate in its new fashion event, the Rolling with Style Gala, set for Tuesday, Feb. 6, at Cipriani at 42nd Street during New York's couture Fashion Week.

Urban Apparel Makers Tailor Strategies for Growth

ApparelNews.net - Despite some recent hiccups, the urban-apparel market is riding another wave of growth fueled by endorsements from the country's leading rap and hip-hop artists, and by a spate of retooling among the market leaders.

A little more than a year ago, major department and specialty stores were culling brands and styles, leaving piles of merchandise for the jobbers and off-price market.

But urbanwear designers have shifted gears and brought back more tailored styling while capitalizing on star power for marketing. The formula apparently has worked. New York–based researcher Packaged Facts released a report showing that the hip-hop apparel and peripheral industries have grown to $500 million.

The changes to be seen will come via more downplayed styling. New York–based Rocawear just debuted Custom Fit, a line that de-emphasizes the big logos and favors a slim rather than baggy silhouette. "A lot of the original urban customers are maturing now, so it looks like a smart move," said Chris Leogrande, vice president of buying and planning for Seacaucus, N.J.–based e-Fashion Solutions, which runs the e-commerce operations for a number of urban brands, including Rocawear, Phat Farm, Apple Bottoms, Kimora Lee Simmons and others.

The more-tailored looks are also aimed at expanding these brands into the department/specialty store channel.

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Jolie

"Kill Bill" actress Vivica A. Fox has entered a more literary region: "I have a magazine called Jolie," Fox tells People. It's "a fashion magazine which stands for 'live pretty,'" she says enigmatically.

"I'm editor at large, which basically means my responsibility is that I interview whoever is on the cover and I also recruit cover models," Fox says.

The mag, which is geared toward minorities, has featured Fox (and why not?), Tyra Banks and Kimora Lee Simmons on its cover.

"We celebrate the fabulous life," Fox said. She said Jolie is all about "having a positive attitude and no matter what size you are, from a 2 all the way up to size 20, that you are fabulous and that you are loved and beautiful too."

The Philadephia Inquirer - Dec. 20, 2006

Regan's fate is unwritten

On the heels of HarperCollins' firing of Judith Regan on Friday, questions swirled around the events precipitating the firing, as well as the exact fate of Regan -- both the personality and the imprint -- and the future of staffers, many of whom relocated to the West Coast within the last year.

In at least some way, the firing was a reaction -- albeit a delayed one -- to the embarrassing scandal involving a Regan tome and TV special with O.J. Simpson titled "If I Did It," in which Simpson described how he would have committed the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

The O.J. incident earned across-the-board condemnation and a statement from Murdoch, who called the event "ill-considered" and yanked both the book and the spesh.

In a statement almost as harsh as its O.J.-related rebuke, HarperCollins "terminated" Regan late Friday, providing a coda to one of the more embarrassing publishing scandals in a year filled with them. News Corp.-owned publisher followed Friday's terse press release with an equally short statement on Saturday saying the imprint would continue in some manner under Regan's deputy, Cal Morgan.

...

Slate of ReganBooks include the Mantle book and titles from Fox News personality Catherine Crier and the late U.N. ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, a book advocating for the raw-food movement, a novel titled "Sex and the Single Zillionaire" and Kimora Lee Simmons' how-to "Fabulosity."

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