An evening with Josie Natori
The Natori Company is a women’s fashion designer and manufacturer based in New York City. The company sells lingerie, nightwear, ready-to-wear loungewear, leg wear, and underwear to upscale department stores in the US and around the world. Natori is also in the home furnishings industry, shoes, bags, dog apparel, sunglasses, and jewelry.
Internationally known Filipino designer and Asian Cultural Council chairman Josie Natori is the founder of Natori but started her career at Merrill Lynch, where she became the first female vice president in investment banking. She decided to pursue a childhood dream of being an entrepreneur but settled on fashion after a buyer at Bloomingdale’s suggested she lengthen some blouses from the Philippines and alter it to be sold as nightshirts. This is how her clothing company began.
Josie invited me to her home in the chic 8th arrondissement of Paris when I happened to be in France. She told me she was going to have a private event and since I loved food, she thought I might be interested in food catered by someone from Top Chef France. Of course I said “yes” to the invitation.
Chef Julie Pirin of Julie Gourmet was a former contestant in Top Chef France. She prepares snacks or meals for 50 to 500 and she did a great job plating and arranging floral accents for Josie’s dining table! I have to say, the food was pretty good too!
Josie hosted the intimate and hands-on event with SOL’s VIP customers, offering them a unique experience and an exclusive glimpse into the world of Natori. She was personally involved every step of the way, witnessing firsthand the impact of bringing the brand directly to its most loyal clientele. SOL is a lingerie store in Denver, Colorado that carries the Natori line.
Cindy Johnson and Jeanie Peterson are the founders of SOL. Since opening their storefront in Denver in 1997, they have continued to educate women of all ages and sizes in the art of perfectly fitting lingerie. This desire has taken them around the world collaborating with top lingerie designers, and has them constantly seeking out and learning the latest in lingerie and design trends. They organize yearly trips to Paris and they took their entire staff and around 30 women to Paris for a few days of eating, sightseeing, and shopping! They have hit a milestone: hosting over 120 VIP clients in their favorite city Paris that they have been visiting every January for years!
It was a rare opportunity for these women to be in a designer’s home in Paris so who wouldn’t jump at the chance to buy Natori items from the founder herself! A lot of these women bought clothes but it was a pleasant surprise to see how these women flocked to the jewelry designed by Josie, some of which were made in the Philippines! It was also a thrill to see former Jewelry artistic director at Chanel and Louis Vuitton, Lorenz Baumer, who is a good friend of Josie.
The gracious hostess Josie Natori made a lot of these women happy with great food at a beautiful location and having a sale that included a personal touch of Josie herself. It will be a memorable shopping experience that they will surely remember.
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