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26 •
JULY 2006 • JNPLATINUM
Continuedfrom page 25
skirts that I glued together."
She knew she wouldn't finish college
but enrolled at Wayne State University
in Detroit to appease her parents, a
"hip and stylish" couple, she says, who
divorced when Freede was young. She
got her break in fashion when she took
a job at Kosin's Clothes, the famed
Detroit men's retailer that dressed
Motown greats including the Four
Tops. Owner Harry Kosins, Freede
says, "taught me a lot about textiles."
She later worked as a manufacturer's
representative for Calvin Klein and
Faded Glory and moved to Los
Angeles, where she began to sell her
own line of clothing — which often
included redesigns of leftover clothing
she would get from industry friends at
the end of each season — out of the
back of her Volkswagen. "I'm telling
you, if it wasn't nailed down, I would
put rhinestones on it," she says.
It was her hat line, however, that
jumpstarted her Hollywood career. She
had begun making trucking hats out
of vintage Gucci and Louis Vuitton
fabrics. In 2002, the pieces attracted
the attention of buyers at Beverly
Hills boutique Fred Segal, a favorite of
Nicole Richie, Heidi Klum and more
— and renowned for launching the
careers of up-and-coming designers.
In Freede's case, stylists for Cher
and the hip-hop trio TLC first took
notice of her, and eventually her clien-
tele expanded to include American Idol
judge Randy Jackson, who wears her
Swarovski crystal flip-flops; Jennifer
Lopez and Reese Witherspoon, who
accessorize with her hair pins; and the
Hilton sisters, who go through her
Huggie earrings the way most people
go through underwear.
Freede, whose designs are now car-
ried in 250 stores worldwide, attributes
her success to "finding holes to fill in
the market," and to keeping concepts
"simple." A former instructor at Brooks
College in Long Beach, Calif., Freede
says her students used to ask her how
to reinvent things.
"I would tell them not to. It's basic
that sells," she said. "Take something
basic and embellish it."
For instance, she returns to the
"old classic pearls" — like the South
Sea Black Fade necklace designed by
Freede and modeled by Kate Moss in
a Chanel ad — and mixes them with
pistachio-hued varieties, chocolate mala
beads (a Buddhist symbol of devotion)
made of wood from Nepal and crystal
disco balls for a new bracelet. "People
are going gaga for it," she says.
But Freede, who keeps a notebook
by her bed in the event inspiration
strikes at 4 a.m., says she doesn't have
to live in Houston, or Los Angeles, to
create her designs. "I can live anywhere
because it's all in my head," she says.
That confidence has allowed her to
contemplate a return to Detroit, where
she would like her younger daughter,
who is talented artistically, to perhaps
attend Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook.
Freede also expresses interest in becom-
ing active in the local Jewish commu-
nity.
Freede's best friend from high
school, Marcia Salzberg, a color and
materials designer at the Ford Motor
Company, wouldn't be surprised to see
Freede, who visits Detroit annually,
back in town permanently.
"She has strong roots here, and she
values a strong Jewish community for
her daughter. And in terms of her busi-
ness, she's got the staying power to be
in demand wherever she is. Detroit
could easily be her home base, and
she'd branch out from here." ❑
Lisa Freede's designs can be found online
at her Web site, celebstylist.com and locally
at Emery's Jewelers in Farmington Hills,
(248) 855-0433.