On With The Show

This past weekend was our first trade show as Lisa August Inc.  A very exciting time for us! It would have been nice for there to have been a little more traffic at the show, but our feet are officially wet.  We were at the ENK Accessories Circuit at the Javits Center, and it was very interesting to be there as Lisa August instead of Bellissima.  We had some wonderful reactions from most people, who were excited to see we are still here after a year of not doing the shows.  Some reactions were unexpected, like the people who thought we took over or bought out Bellissima.  We kind of just became Lisa August, or we like to say: Bellissima had a baby, we named it Lisa August.  Some of my favorite reactions were questioning looks, and then people saying hey, wait, this is Bellissima!  Then I would step in and say, still us, just a little different! That's really the best way to describe how we've been feeling: still us, just a little different.

 It was great seeing all who came, and we look forward to seeing more of you at the gift show in two weeks!  We'll be at the Javits again in personal accessories, booth#: 8650.  August 18-21.

It was nice to see Lisa August's name up there for the first time.  We do this show through Yvette Fry Showroom, located in Manhattan, where they permanently display our full line and work by appointment only.

The Booth all set up!

Our back table and the posters I made for the show

Our cute little necklace display.  Thinking about doing a full wall of these in January.

Me and the line!

Woodside! (before)

Finding our new place in Woodside was not easy.  When we began our search for a space, we wanted to be in either Woodside or Long Island City, an easy commute via mass transit for all of us.  We saw some crazy places, we saw some beautiful places, promises were made and broken, ridiculous 'Only in New York Real Estate' things happened, but in the end, we found our new home.

It's two floors, the first floor will be where our machinery and acetate storage will be, the second floor will be our assembly area, office/design studio and kitchen/dining (very important).
It was a BEAUTIFUL day when we saw it, and we were in love with it.  Whenever I've gone back to see it and measure it, etc., it's been pouring outside!  Here are some pics of Lisa August's space, it will look a lot different by the end of the month, and the suspense is killing me!

The Downstairs.  Where some of the magic will happen!

Upstairs, photo taken where the office and kitchen area will be, facing where our assembly/studio area will be

Our office and kitchen space

Our terrace, and a whole bunch of rain-this will be worked on!

Our little kitchen and terrace space!

So, this is really the before, but it has so much potential, and it's going to look great!

Who Am I?

I know that title seems very existential, but it kind of is.  For the past 11 years I've designed for Bellissima By Moschitto Designs.  Many changes and struggles occurred for Bellissima in the past few years like so many companies, and when an offer on our building presented itself, we decided to sell.  Many of you who read this know that we were a third generation family business, that was originally created by my Grandfather, Augie Moschitto, a tough, fearless, extremely hardworking, generous but mostly creative man. 

Augie's daughter, my Mother, Lenore and I decided one day that we weren't done with our jewelry line, so with me as the designer and Lenore as the operator, we formed Lisa August Inc.  Lisa for me, August for Augie, and it's just a coincidence that we unveil ourselves in August.  Lenore and I  think we make a great pair, both loving the part of the business that we're responsible for respectively.

This brings me back to the question: Who Am I?

Right now, I feel like I'm Bellissima in limbo waiting to become Lisa August.  We are still here, in Jamaica Queens cleaning out the factory I sometimes feel I grew up in.  Spending school vacations here as a kid, working hot NY summers here as a grouchy teenager, a couple of summers as a broke college student, and finally as a more broke, scared and lost post-college photography major.  My current feelings are more bitter than sweet, throwing out old samples of mine (there are just too many to keep), coming across some scribblings, old press in magazines, elementary school projects my mother kept at work, etc...the factory is almost like a family member in itself, and it's so hard to say goodbye.

Becoming Lisa August is the next big chapter of my (and my Mother's) life, perhaps the most uncharted, most mysterious and definitely the biggest gamble I've taken.  I'm comforted in the knowledge that I've got 11 years experience of designing a jewelry line, Lenore has 30 years experience in operations, and we both have what feels like a lifetime of memories to see us through.

Next stop: Woodside!