Velita

Part of our gift with purchase at FNO will include Purple Lab's "Huge Lips, Skinny Hips" lip-gloss. The name makes you smile, but the company is earnest in its promise. Purple Lab is a fresh, fun innovative brand all about double-duty beauty, a mix of science forward technology and a dose of chic glam into your life while providing a service to the body, soul and self confidence. As an acclaimed fashion/beauty insider/journalist/author/media vet, Purple Lab Creatrix Karen Robinovitz merges insider tips and tricks with ground-breaking ingredients, cutting-edge delivery systems and trend-setting style. Karen studied biology at Emory University and was pre-med until she decided to pursue her dream in fashion. Though she did not become a doctor, she is something of a beauty doctor, creating a line of products that cater to a woman who needs quality without sacrificing design. "“It’s not just beauty, it’s a way of life with products that cover every need, wish and desire of a girl like me…busy, busy, busy with a thirst for chic."

Self-described as "French, Cuban, Miami, Parisian," New York DJette Luna Vega will be spinning her own signature blend of Electro, House, Funk, Breakbeats and Dancehall for Velita's Fashion's Night Out. Vega is known for her Miami/French flare when it comes to music, but her style, much like Velita's fashion, is uniquely her own. Like Velita's line, Vega's music is definitively cross-cultural, effortless and, above all, tres chic. Her signature blend has gained her notoriety at such nightlife venues as the Gansevoort Hotel, Delancey Bar, Panda and Tandem. But Vega isn't only known for her music - her personal style is as impressive as her beats, always original, sleek and fun. If the cupcakes won't bring you to Velita's Fashion's Night Out party, then Vega's sweet tunes certainly will.

Guests of the night can treat their taste buds with cupcakes from Little Cupcake Bakeshop, a Brooklyn based bakery that is slated to open their first location in Manhattan just up the block from Velita on the corner of Prince and Mott. Be one of the first in the neighborhood to nosh on these delectable delights! Touted for their flavors, their imaginative décor and written up in just about every publication in the city, these cupcakes are sure to aide in the understanding that there are amazing things coming this Fall, for both Velita and our new neighbor Little Cupcake Bakeshop. And, to make it even more sweet, they will be paired with signature cocktails (more on that later!) Get there early, it's while supplies last!

The countdown to Fashion’s Night Out has officially begun! We are 1 week away and very excited to start announcing the details of our event for that evening. Each day leading up to September 10th (next Friday) we will be posting another tasty update expanding on an element playing a major role in the night’s festivities. Today we reveal the theme of Fashion’s Night Out at Velita: A Taste Of What’s To Come. We at Velita wanted to fully embrace this next season and take you (and your senses) on a journey with us as we explore our new location, our new design ideas, and our new neighborhood. FNO’s motto is something that Velita firmly believes in – Shop for something good. Next season will elevate Velita’s already recognized subtle luxury to a new high. And we can’t wait to show you more! So, stay tuned in and check back! If it is easier, click the links at the top of the page to follow us on Facebook or Twitter as the updates will be posted there as well. If you would like an invitation to our event, and haven’t yet signed up to our mailing list, please do so by reaching out to us at contact@velita.com . We would love to see you all next Friday!

At the Nolita boutique, Velita is proud to introduce new, custom-made leather belts by Antibellum, especially designed to compliment the Pre-Fall '10 collection! Leatherworker Alexis Campagna’s line Antibellum is the needle in a proverbial haystack of flash in the pan accessory designs. Antibellum’s mission is to breath life into sleek, original, vintage-inspired designs by emphasizing superior craftsmanship. Campagna’s craftmanship is so sublime, it earned her last year’s Independent Handbag Designer Award for Best Handmade Handbag. To make her belts, Campagna uses a strap cutter to cut leather straps to match original belt patterns. She then sews each piece using her 20th century, vintage Singer sewing machine, proof she’s not willing to compromise craftsmanship for easy, modern day technologies. The final result is a stunning, chic leather belt that can compliment any ensemble day through night. As a bonus, it can be worn comfortably knowing it’s a one-of-a-kind, handmade piece.

Velita now has bragging rights as the exclusive carrier of CBL Paris bags in the United States. Straight from the fashionable streets of Paris, CBL is the nom-de-designe for Sybille Ritter von Marx who creates 60’s inspired bags of leather and other materials, recognizable by their signature tri-floral impressions. In Paris, the CBL bags are hailed as both stylish and practical, being described as a “mini bureau de dame,” or a mini office for women. Each style is limited in quantity as they are “petites oeuvres d’art a porter,” (small, portable masterpieces). Art has always been in Sybille’s life. As a young girl her grandmother, who was a painter, would invite over notable artists to her Parisian pied-de-terre. Sybille went on to study at the Sorbonne before launching her bag line last year. Her CBL bags have already garnered major attention in Paris, and now Velita is carrying two of her most popular styles, the Sac Lune Coralie and Sac Lune Laurancia. Velita will also take orders for clients interested in purchasing any of her other styles.

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of a variety of hand-crafted Tracey Tooker hats at Velita! Tracey is a veteran milliner who has run her own hat stores in Palm Beach, Southhampton and on the Upper East Side for the last 25 years. Now Velita is delighted to currently be her exclusive downtown carrier of hats. Tracey’s hats are all handmade in her SoHo loft using the finest Pagalina, Swiss and Italian straws. Her craftsmanship is as fine as her raw materials. Each hat is hand sewn to a block form, shellacked, baked in a kiln and then wired into shape. Each hat is not just an accessory but also a work of art, after all, Tooker is an artist first who can boast to being the co-designer of a chair that sits in the Louvre. “My shapes are my shapes. I do them sporty, or elegant or cute. Each hat has its own character. All are classics.” Sporty, cute or chic Tooker knows hats, with clients that include First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton, Shirley MacLaine, Meryl Street, Bianca Jagger, Vera Wang, Barbara Walters, Martha Stewart and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.

By now, you are all familiar with our Spring/Summer '10 collection from seeing the photos in the Collections and Shop Online pages. What we didn't tell you yet is how the photoshoot was produced and how such beatiful photos were created. It all started with the multi-talented producer Emanuela (Manu) Romano who gathered all the right talent: Ebru Yildiz, photographer; Mitchell King, musician and photographer assistant for the day; Fumi, Make up artist; and Madisen, model. We all gathered on a sunday morning, set up the photography studio and starting shooting. Creative Director, Elena was stylist and hair person (if you see any fly-aways blame it on Elena). The day went smoothly and and we shot a total of 18 looks in only 9 hours! quite an accomplishment Many thanks to the crew who worked non stop to create such beautiful photos! Go back and take a look at them, and how gorgeous Madisen looks. I have to say that my favorite photo of her is below, where she shows us her natural smile when, in a playful way, she stopped for a bit being a professional model and had mischievously smiled, I love it!

Check out Emma Rosenblum, New York Magazine editor and Velita client, looking fabulous during her Spring Restaurant Roundup for NBC New York. Emma recommends some incredible restaurants that just make me want to run and try them all! And by the way, she is wearing Velita’s Black Scarf Neck Blazer and Grey Wrapped Knit top from our Fall ’09 collection… Emma, you look beautiful!!

After a long search and a lot of prepration, we opened the doors of our new boutique in Nolita, 211 Mott, Wednesday, May 26th. We are so excited, the area and space are perfect for Velita, spacious and zen at the same time. We will be having a proper opening event later in June, we will let you know in a couple of weeks, for now, stop by for a visit, would love to see you !!!

After 11 wonderful months at our 79 Sullivan st. nyc location, we are moving!! We decided it is time for a bit larger place to continue expanding Velita. At Sullivan we gained many loyal clients and we plan to continue doing the same at our new location, at a larger scale. We are in the final stages before the move, we will reveal our new location and opening date once everything is finalized (don’t worry, we are not moving far from Sullivan, downtown is where we want to be!)…Stay tuned, we will make an announcement this week!….

One of the first pictures of the Sullivan St. boutique!

Velita had its first fashion show on April 8th, 2010 with the launch of the Spring/Summer’10 collection! It was an eventful evening, starting with a champagne reception, followed by the show and ending with a private sale with a special discount on just arrived styles. Our first 50 guests received a gift bag filled with SoHo retailers goodies such as Grandaisy Bakery, John Masters Organics, Carrimels and Korres makeup, a wonderful souvenir of this special night. Guests were delighted with the music (by DJ Ollie Snelling), the Grandaisy biscotti, the champagne (served by our affable bartender for the night Greg Able) and specially the collection (we sold out on one size of our new trench coat!) A huge THANKS to all who made this evening happen: Tara, Niamh, Ayeesha, Carrie, Aaron, Andrew and Rob, Cecilia, Selina, Manuel and so many more! Thank you to all of you who attended and for the Aicon Gallery for hosting the event. Because of the success of this our first show, we will be having one for the release of every collection so…See you again in september for the Fall/Winter’10 event!!

Photos by Deneka Peniston Deneka’s Site