13 minute read
Shani
The Vanguard of America’s New Fashion Vernacular
Written By Jadan Horyn @JadanHoryn Edited By Edina Sultanik
“You will never believe what happened after you left the photoshoot at Ladurée,” says a voice on the phone one evening in August. I give the long pause and then say, “Try me.”
The day before, I’d joined what turned out to be a 10-hour photo shoot for the cover of this magazine, featuring a striking fashion designer made up in full Hollywood glam-style hair and makeup posing in a range of unbelievable scenes, from an indoor swimming pool to a swanky hotel bar. The set was littered with racks of glamorous evening gowns and dresses, sequins, feathers and tulle, priceless gems and jewelry as rows of couture heels, pumps, and stilettos lined the walls. The shoot itself was scripted into scenes, each progressing in its level of whim and fancy with people and props to propel the unified vision. It was a visual tour de force to watch - and participate in. I was roped into modeling as a man-bunned bartender—a human prop supporting the drama.
So naturally, after such an extravagant experience, what I was about to be told had to be equally extreme.
Those couture pumps, heels, and stilettos had been placed in a red roller suitcase. In the damp darkness of the unusually chilly August evening, they had been left sitting on the street in the hustle and bustle of loading trunks. The designer on the other end tells me that they were her best shoes—she brought all her favorite things from her own closet for this shoot. I hold my breath. She says, “You can imagine when I got to my showroom and I realize there is no red suitcase. I make a beeline back to Ladurée in the pouring rain. Professional photoshoot makeup was running down my face, and my hair was frozen stiff from more hairspray than most people use in a month, looking at what can only be described as a fashion disaster. The red suitcase is strewn across the road, its contents gone. A homeless man smiles from
On Leonid: Blazer INC, Shirt, pants RALPH LAUREN On Shani: Dress, rings SHANI, Top hat Stylist’s own On Vika: Dress, rings, all SHANI On Steven: Blazer TALLIA
across the street. In his hand, there appears a flash of lace, but it’s quickly gone. He says another guy took all the shoes.”
I gasp at the thought of a suitcase full of designer heels, gone, and then start laughing and say, “I am so sorry.”
“I think it’s the universe’s way of keeping me grounded,” the designer says of the incident with a laugh.
Times of stress reveal one’s character. I’m struck by the sentiment.
The designer who told me this story, who is featured on the cover of this magazine, is Shani Grosz, owner and design director of SHANI Collection. Shani is not angry, not indignant about the loss of her best shoes, but calmly reflective. It’s that ability to stay calm and positive in the face of personal and professional challenges that has helped her rise in the ranks of the fashion world, while maintaining a life filled with loyal friends and colleagues.
I met Shani at the Plaza Hotel for what was supposed to be breakfast. It turned into a 3-hour High Tea at the Palm Court followed by a hectic 12-hour workday, culminating in a self-care treat--foot massages. An unusually authentic personal experience shared with one of America’s most popular designers whose name is on dresses in every woman’s closet, but who herself personally remains largely under the radar.
Until now.
Shani is the eponymous designer of a dress collection that’s carried in every major department store in the US, including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord and Taylor. The collection is known for its high quality, easy to wear desk-to-dinner dresses and formalwear, that are designed to complement women of all shapes and sizes.
Parsons-educated, Shani built her business from scratch. “I am completely self made
Left: Dress SHANI, Ring, bracelet ERICKSON BEAMON, Shoes AQUAZZURA Right: On Anastasia: Dress, rings SHANI, Earrings, bracelets ERICKSON BEAMON On Vika: Dress SHANI, Necklaces, bracelets, mask ERICKSON BEAMON On Steven: Mask, lapel pin ERICKSON BEAMON Shoe being held SARAH PALMER
Dress, Rings SHANI, Shoes AQUAZZURA Dress SHANI Necklaces, bracelets, ring ERICKSON BEAMON Shoes SARAH PALMER
and self motivated,” she says . “I started this label as a “trade”. I was very young and making inroads in the dress world and a company approached me to come work for them. I remember feeling very small in this giant conference room with some very wellseasoned fashion executives. I told them, ‘I’ll work for you if you finance my own label as well.’ Looking back on that now, I can’t believe I took such a bold step. But not even 24 hours later they had called me back and agreed to do it.”
And the SHANI label was created…..
Shani focuses her designs around her customers first and foremost. Rather than forcing her ideal aesthetic on the customer, she looks to see what would look beautiful on women and then seeks to drape them in the art of her creation. Shani describes her customer: “She is not twenty with the perfect body. She is a real woman who maybe had kids or is a working woman who wants a dress that helps hide flaws. We are conscious of creating dresses to help a woman look flawless even if she isn’t. I design for real women.”
With her customers’ needs in mind and her laser-focus on business, Shani adapts to what is selling and what materials women want to wear. “Our attention is on design and quality.
Dress, rings SHANI, Necklace, bracelets, mirror ring ERICKSON BEAMON Laser cutout boots SARAH PALMER, Top hat Stylist’s own Dresses SHANI, Rings SHANI Earrings, necklaces ERICKSON BEAMON
We spend a lot of time researching the best fabrics and the best designs and the best factories to produce in. We create our own embroideries and appliqués from scratch. Every dress is as unique as the woman who is wearing it.”
That attention to detail is what has made SHANI Collection a favorite of anchor women and other high profile women. She helps hundreds of women who go on TV in front of millions of people look their best, effortlessly, every day, as well as millions of women looking for daytime looks or dresses for special occasions for their everyday lives. She also provides dresses for major movies and TV shows on a regular basis. Shani is increasingly involved with makeover TV segments such as Ambush Makeover on NBC and her dresses were featured on Good Morning America as the miracle dresses that women love to love. “Clothing takes you from the ordinary to the extraordinary. I want a woman to put on one of my dresses and feel beautiful and feel as if she can conquer the world,” Shani says.
While designing clothes for power women, humility is the most prominent of her personality traits. She isn’t self-deprecating, but genuinely humble. Shani had sent me a multi-page email with answers to my preinterview questions. When we sat down she
thanked me for the exercise. I laughed and asked for what, half expecting the thank you to be insincere. Shani answers “I don’t get much time to sit and reflect. I took your questions seriously and it provided me with an opportunity to write out my thoughts.”
My interest was piqued.
In her email responses back to me, Shani sent me something that stood out. “I have a deep love for what I do and a deep sense of appreciation for the people that are around me that help me bring my vision to life. That includes my very talented employees, my financial partner, and all the factories around the world that produce for us and to the stores that continuously give me the opportunity to bring my dreams and vision to life. I take none of this for granted. And if it’s one thing that Covid taught us it’s that nothing in life is given and that anything can be taken away.”
Shani has learned gratitude, flexibility, resourcefulness, and perseverance – important life lessons from her late father, who passed away suddenly 2 years ago -- and it’s paid off. “I was very close to my father. He was definitely my single biggest cheerleader in life. He always believed in me. He taught me it’s always better to be on the giving side than the receiving side. My generous streak comes from him. When he passed away two years ago, I went to clean out his office. I saw that he kept every article that was written about my company and every photo that was ever printed. He was very proud of me. I feel like he still guides me today from above.”
Shani is that rare combination of multi-modality artist/designer and astute businesswoman. “There is the art form of what I do and then there’s the business side. I almost feel like these are two tracks that work simultaneously, and both have to be strong to make perfect harmony. Fashion is not just about creating a beautiful design. It has to be produced and it has to sell. The art side came naturally to me. I had a dream to create art that women can wear. It was a way of sharing my vision and my version of beauty with the world. The business side I learned on the job and am still learning every day.”
Her self-taught business acumen proved to be solid during the challenging days of the pandemic. With no in-person social events due to Covid, dress sales dipped dramatically in 2020. But drawing on her constant determination, upbeat approach, personal relationships with many of her clients and retail partners, Shani fought hard to stay in business. Now, post-pandemic, she’s pivoted her strategies, and she’s not only surviving, she’s thriving. “To still be here and to be running a business that’s considered super successful, is a major accomplishment that I am very proud of,” she says.
“This industry has a lot of highs and lows and I think the biggest lesson is to never give up and have faith that there is something stronger that is guiding us. Every ‘No’ can turn into a ‘Yes.’ The trick is not to get too caught up in the low points or the rejections. Every store that we sell to today said no to me at some point before they actually opened the door and gave me a chance. I think the mindset was always that you need to believe in what you’re doing so that you can keep doing it and keep knocking on those doors. No means not now… And not to give up !!!” she adds.
During my 12-hour follow-along with Shani, I had the opportunity to see her in action at her design studio. Many members of her loyal team have been with her for over a decade, and their dedication to her is reciprocated. Her long-time assistant Tin had a stack of documents ready for her when we entered her office in the late afternoon. I watched as Tin explained that dress after dress was sold
Dress SHANI Letter necklace SHANI Necklace ERICKSON BEAMON Gloves AMATO Shoes SARAH PALMER
out and Covid-impacted supply constraints meant wait times could affect retail confidence. Shani reacted swiftly, identifying alternative suppliers and textile types, sizes, colors, hues; typing on WhatsApp to see who could deliver the product at the right pricepoint at the right time. Once the work is done Tin lightens up ever so slightly. I ask him what his favorite design is - he regales me with a loud proclamation : “Sir-- I’ve worn them all,” he says.”
Beyond her best-selling dress line, Shani is launching her own luxury beauty line, and her own fine jewelry collection. Shani showed me the original sketches of the jewelry and she took me to meet the craftsmen who are making each piece by hand to her specifications. Each piece has a hidden ruby, which traditionally has been used to promote fertility and ward off evil. Hope and protection - powerful motivators for women.
For American women, it’s clear that there is a new designer in the pantheon - a vanguard of a new fashion vernacular. If you don’t yet know the name of this fashion designer on the rise you will. She is about to take America by storm. From the red carpet to the board room, and everywhere in between. Wherever there is a real woman boldly going forth into the world there will be a SHANI dress going with her.
@shanidress.official. www.Shanicollection.com
CREDITS DIRECTOR & STYLIST: LEONID GUREVICH PHOTOGRAPHER: TYLER KENNY HAIR STYLIST: LORENZO DIAZ MAKEUP ARTIST: AMMARA RANA MODELS: ANASTASIA VILKOVA, VIKA COSTA, STEVEN TORRISI STYLIST’S ASSISTANTS: KRISTIN COSTA, IRINA KEIS, ALISA KONONOVA FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS: PIC AND PETAL BY LEATAL COHEN SHOOTING LOCATIONS: 60 THOMPSON HOTEL /THE BUTTERFLY LOUNGE, LADUREE SOHO, PRIVATE RESIDENCE
Left: Dress worn as a top SHANI, Skirt LEONID GUREVICH Earring, necklace ERICKSON BEAMON, Rings SHANI Right: On Shani: Necklace, dress SHANI, Ring ERICKSON BEAMON, On Anastasia: Dress SHANI, Earrings, necklace, bracelet ERICKSON BEAMON
25A CELEBRITY CORNER
Shani has built strong personal relationships with many of her high-profile clients Here’s what some of them have to say about working with her.
SHERYL LEE RALPH
This original Broadway Dreamgirl will soon be seen in the new ABC series Abbott Elementary and in the FreeForm series Motherland Fort Salem. She is running for VP of SAG/ AFTRA. IG:@theSherylleeralph Twitter: @thesherylralph
“I remember trying on a Shani dress and loving it. A year later I was on Broadway doing Wicked and saw a designer list with Shani on it. I reached out to the company and requested some green dresses. Shani herself delivered the dresses and I was impressed by her open personality. Shani has the power of discernment, she is able to be who she is, as opposed to trying to be someone else.” Host of her own primetime WABC Radio show; Emmy-winning journalist; six-time Gracie-winning radio host, and multiple best-selling author, who has anchored highly-rated primetime shows on MSNBC and Fox. @RitaCosby
“I am a three-time Emmy-winning journalist who anchored highly rated primetime shows on MSNBC and Fox. I wear Shani dresses because I can interview a head of state, walk ten blocks, grab a coffee, and then do my hair and head to an evening event without having to change. Shani’s styles always lead the way for me and garner countless compliments from fans and colleagues. The dresses are easy to wear, wonderfully designed, and come in dynamic colors and fabrics.”
