P'•
Mama's got a brand-new Egg.
/
te)
FOUNDED IN 1843
B'nai B'rith is working for
you: Around the world and
right here at home.
Lynne Konstantin
Contributing Writer
The B'nai B'rith
Scholarship Program is
helping local students
with college costs.
.:P
I
Come see 13-year-old piano
prodigy Ethan Bortnick on
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m., at The
Berman Center for the Performing
Arts. Ticket sales support the new
B'nai B'rith Scholarship Program.
Now playing piano for a decade, at
11 Ethan was the youngest artist
ever to headline a Las Vegas show.
For tickets call 248-661-1900 or
visit: theberman.org
B'nai B'rith International, the Global
Voice of the Jewish Community, fights
for human rights around the world;
Advocates for Israel; Supports seniors
through commitment to healthy aging
and safe housing for seniors of limited
means; Responds when disaster strike.
Interested in learning more
about our efforts?
Connect with us:
www.bnaibrith.org
www.facebook.com/
bnaibrithinternational
email: greatlakes@bnaibrith.org
248-646-3100
B'NAI B'RITH
INTERNATIONAL
Sponsored by
B'nai B'rith Great Lakes Region
1859120
28 September 19 • 2013
S it Paul McCartney, Jane
Krakowski from 30 Rock,
Jennifer Garner, Eli (and wife,
Abby) Manning and now — Metro
Detroit shoppers.
Baby and kids' clothing and accessory
designer Susan Lazar has brought her
super-luxurious yet moderately priced
microfashions to Birmingham, so that we
all may pop into the boutique favored by
A-list celebs and in-the-know chic New
Yorkers.
Founded in DUMBO (an acronym for
a Brooklyn neighborhood — District
Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass),
Egg by Susan Lazar, or Egg Baby, has
only a handful of company-owned stores,
including in Southampton, N.Y., and its
original DUMBO location, as well as sell-
ing to high-end department stores and
about 150 independent boutiques across
the country. And just last month, Egg
added Birmingham to its elite list, open-
ing as a destination store in the former
Purple Bear space.
A Philadelphia native now based out
of New York, Lazar studied textiles and
fashion at Cornell University and the
Fashion Institute of Technology before
going to work for fashion icons Randolph
Duke and Michael Kors. In 1995, she
launched a women's sportswear line of
her own that was actually a bit too suc-
cessful for her liking.
"It was a bit overwhelming. I never
stopped to smell the flowers. And in the
wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I
was craving an outlet that was a bit more
meaningful," Lazar says.
Although she was not raised in a reli-
gious home, she began to study Torah,
visited Israel and was exploring what it
meant to be Jewish.
"The importance of the connection of
family was percolating in my head. I was
thinking about the Jewish idea that every
soul has a unique potential, even though
it may look the same on the outside she
says. "Like an egg:'
Lazar — with no children of her own
at the time and before children's wear had
become a celebrity trend — launched
Egg by Susan Lazar in 2004.
"I was really winging it:' she says. "But
good design is good design, whether it's
interiors or dog clothes or anything else.
And, as is often the case for designers
and other artists, what I began designing
was somewhat biographical:'
Creating pieces for infants and
children through size 6, Lazar infuses
in them an aesthetic rooted in clean
and modern design that is supremely
comfortable (silky organic cottons
and lush cashmere layettes) for its
wearer. Moving away from the trend of
watered-down versions of adult cloth-
ing or fussy dresses overrun with bows,
Lazar says, "I wanted to capture the
innocence of childhood and pay atten-
tion to details, whether it's the shape of
a button or a muted print or graphic,
that makes it subtly chic and modern
yet innocent at the same time. And I
wanted it to be affordable'
And toward the end of letting herself
smell the flowers — and enjoy her new
daughter, Mikaela, with her partner,
artist Ben Tritt — two years ago, Lazar
brought on a new CEO. Though born,
bred and based in New York City,
Edward Danien Harrison is a University
of Michigan and Wharton School grad-
uate who is married to a Bloomfield
Hills native, Susan Potok Harrison. And
he thought Metro Detroit would be an
ideal home for Egg to hatch.
"I've spent a lot of time in
Birmingham, and I love the commu-
nity — it illustrates what we want the
Egg brand to represent:' Harrison says.
"The area is sophisticated and styl-
ish; it's young and hip; it has a unique
downtown, boutique vibe — which
are all characteristics that our original
DUMBO store grew out of:'
And when Egg becomes a part of
a community, it likes to give back.
Fifteen percent of Egg's Charity Tees
line benefits different organizations,
and Harrison, whose father is a former
chair of the retail division of the UJA-
Federation of New York, is scouting
local organizations to partner with.
In addition to Lazar's own Egg line,
which will be expanded to size 8 this
spring, the new Birmingham boutique,
which opened Aug. 18, will be layering
in additional, complementary brands
of clothing, accessories and educational
toys, including Splendid, Trunk, 3
Sprouts, Manny & Simon, Tegu mag-
netic wooden blocks and more, which
parents can browse while kids snack
and play in their own family- (stroller-)
friendly area.
❑
244 East Maple Road, Birmingham (248-
645-0400; egg-baby.com ).
Susan Lazar with her family
Children's fashion from Egg