Vincent Nesi went from a career in finance to designing clothes, and now he’s CEO of Luxirie by LRG, heading up one of the most lively and diverse women’s street brands out there. I recently sat down with Vincent to preview Luxirie’s fall 2010 collection, chat about his idol, how he made the come-up and more: Kiki: If you were forced to choose another career, what would it be? Vinnie: “I have never really thought about another career, but I think I would have been a Nascar driver.” Tell us a random fact about yourself that most people wouldn’t know. “I’m a closet prep.” Who is your idol, living or dead? “I like Ralph Lauren. He is an example of classic style, and he held a consistent point of view in the market over the years.” How many hours of sleep do you get on average? “Four to six—except during the MAGIC trade show in Las Vegas.” What’s your favorite drink? “Coffee.” What do you love most about NYC? “To me, NYC has always held the pulse of the world and there’s no better place to come home to.” Luxirie Fall 2010On making moves in the fashion business: “When it comes to merchandising, you have buyers coming in every 15 minutes, so you have to be super quick. When you meet somebody, you have to know within the first minute, how do I play today? Are they super straight-laced, and you’re not supposed to use the f-word in the appointment? You have about 15 seconds to read them, and then another 15 minutes to make an entire presentation to try and sell them as much as you can.” First gig in the industry: “Head of design at The School of Hard Knocks. It seemed to me that the uglier I would make things, the better they would sell. After a while I realized that you sort of have to go through an out-of-body experience when it comes to design. Rarely do you completely relate to your brand, unless its someone like Ralph Lauren, who designs for himself. You need to know what your key consumer is looking for, what kind of brands they’re wearing, and which stores are packed. Like Aeropostale and American Eagle are always packed…we take influence from them, but since they’re not necessarily willing to go edgy, we add that street twist.” Career history: “After The School of Hard Knocks, I was at Rocawear women’s for a while. I then co-founded Le Tigre, which was a good run. We were selling in stores from Fred Segal to DrJays.com. I saw that timing was everything when I launched Le Tigre. We saw Lacoste go from a tiny brand to a giant over night. We saw Andy Roddick wearing it on the U.S. Open tennis court, while Jay-Z was wearing it in the “Girls, Girls Girls” video. We thought, ‘Man, this could be for everybody. Even if we could have 10 percent of Lacoste’s business, we’re good.’ After selling Le Tigre there I started a private label company, which did well in department stores and big-box stores. Then I became president of COOGI women’s. Its been 15 years since I’ve been in this business; a year-and-a-half at Luxirie now.” Luxirie’s relationship with LRG: “Luxirie and LRG are brother and sister brands. We’re not anatomically the same, but we certainly come from the same DNA. You can see influence and relativity between the two but they’re not supposed to look identical. We’re the hot sister.” See the latest Luxirie gear on DrJays.com by clicking HERE.
