Statement

Clothing designer Heidi Weisel
makes a name for herself by
living in style.

Her clothes adorn some of the
most famous bodies in
Holly-wood, from
Brooke Shields
to Sandra
Bullock
to Elizabeth
Hurley.

.

Fashion designer Heidi Weisel
views herself as a cultural Jew.

DINA FUCHS
Special to the Jewish News

n a large Neiman Marcus
dressing room, designer
Heidi Weisel reaches into her
black Prada knapsack to
answer her ringing cellphone. She
takes one look at the phone,
smiles and exclaims, "I love Caller
ID!"
She presses a button and with-
out so much as a greeting, she
addresses the person on the other
line. "I can't talk right now, I'm
doing an interview," she declares,
hangs up, and slips the phone
back into her bag.
Weisel perfectly fits the image
of the New York fashion plate. It
is mid-day, yet she is wearing sleek
black pumps secured with thin
ankle straps. Her straight blond

I

11/19
1999

G6

hair frames a face that is flawless
and practically makeup-free. Her
bare, pale legs are crossed under-
neath a clingy black sweater dress.
"I don't think that being Jewish
necessarily has anything to do
with it," she replies, when asked
why she thinks there are so many
Jews in the fashion business. "It's
just circumstance."
As a little girl growing up in a
modern-Orthodox home in
Brooklyn, Weisel spent hours
making outfits for her Barbie
dolls. Scrounging for whatever
pieces of fabric she could find, she
would bring the scraps to a neigh-
bor who was a seamstress and
would sew them into outfits.
Her love of beautiful clothing
grew from there. She studied art
history in college and eventually
graduated from the famed Fashion

Institute of Technology. Without
any connections to the industry,
Weisel made her way into the
world of haute couture with a
small collection of six little black
dresses.
Today her clothes adorn some
of the most famous bodies in
Hollywood, from Brooke
Shields to Sandra Bullock to
Elizabeth Hurley. "We dress
more nominees for the
Golden Globes than any other
designer other than Mr.
[Giorgio] Armani," boasts
Tom Handley, Weisel's vice
president of development.
Dubbed the "Queen of
Cashmere" by some, Weisel
says her designs reflect her
love of color and luxurious
fabric trims, like real and
faux fur, leather and soft