THE BACK STORY: Dancing into Design
Betsey Johnson was born on August 10 1942 in Wethersfield, Connecticut to Lean and John Johnson. Betsey had an early inclination towards the arts, taking a strong interest in dance and sketching. She pursued arts at Pratt Institute but within a year, she switched to Syracuse University, where she graduated magna cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Betsey‘s fashion ticket came in the form of Manhattan boutique Paraphernalia where she developed her signature style hallmarked by the use of unconventional fabrics like shower curtains and the interior lining of automobiles. “What I tried to do was a combination of dance and art,” she tells Biography.com. Betsey says that she settled on fashion designing when “I realized that making clothes is completing what a drawing can’t be—going from two dimensional to reality.”

WHY WE ADORE HER:
LIVELY: Betsey is now a grandmother and well into her 70s but she still create designs that can connect to a large audience from kids to other grandmothers. What really makes us love Betsey is her energy – she still cartwheels at the end of her runway shows! While Johnson says she almost fell the first time tumbling down the runway, she enjoys her take on a finale. “It’s a rough thing, but a great thing to pull off each show. I don’t practice in between, and I don’t work out!”
TOUGH: Not only has Betsey fought a personal battle with cancer and recovered, she has also fought financial difficulties when her career staggered in the 1970s. “I thought it was all over until Punk started in London,” she recalls in a talk with Biography.com. “It felt like a reincarnation of the 60s. It felt the same as when I was 22.” Her perseverance was rewarded with stores all across America along with the expansion of her line into accessories, handbags and shoes.

FOXY PIECE FOR BETSEY:
Given Betsey’s personal style sense, we pick the Zig Zag Necklace in Gold/Orange which is a perfect blend of fun, funky, edgy and bold.

Betsey, we aspire to have your continued love for work and life as we age!

THE BACK STORY: Power of Two
Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi was born on 12 February 1930 in Helsinki, Finland. Despite being initially trained and interested in ceramics, Vuokko worked in Arabia’s art department before focusing on textile design. She joined Marimekko in 1953 and quickly changed the company’s style with her revolutionary design. Her most iconic look is the iconic red shirt with white vertical stripes known as Jokapoika.

Maija Isola was born on 15 March 1927 in Riihimaki, Finland. She had studied to be a painter before she started working in Marimekko as the principal textile designer. In 1964, Maija defied Marimekko’s founder’s ban on floral patterns and created the famous Unikko pattern which has remained in production ever since.

While Vuokko eventually left Marimekko to start her own company and Maija worked at Marimekko until her death, together, these women single-handedly created over the majority of Marimekko’s prints which have revolutionized how people of think of fabric and pattern interactions.

WHY WE ADORE THEM:
REVOLUTIONARY: Both of these trailblazers sought to make their own mark within the industry. At a time where there were no solutions provided for Vuokko, she came up with her own: she used batteries in clothes to keep them warm and blocked holes with chewing gum in printing machines to make bigger patterns. Vuokko told Marimekko that the best advice she has ever received was from Beada Närhis: “You don’t need to do what others do”.
BOLD: Both Vuokko and Maija focused on creating strong patterns that were completely unique in the time period they were first introduced. They used big patterns and complemented them with bright and strong colours. They also showcased tremendous foresight when they released these designs into the world, as they are now timeless.

FOXY PIECE FOR VUOKKO AND MAIJA:
Given Maija’s penchant for nature, we think she’d love the Pansy ring in Red and since Vuokko is partial to colour and geometric patterns, we think she’d be a fan of the Caldera Necklace.

Maija, we will always remember how you make design seem so effortless with your harmonious blend of colour and pattern. Vuokko, we’d love to be a fly on the wall at your workspace so we can observe how you create your revolutionary work!

THE BACK STORY: Style is Ageless
The self-proclaimed ‘geriatric starlet’, Iris Apfel was born on August 29, 1921 to the Samuel Barrel, whose family owned a glass-and-mirror business, and his Russian-born wife, Sadye, who owned a fashion boutique in Astoria, New York. Iris tells Telegraph UK in 2011 that her “mother was quite a clothes-horse and she loved to dress me up so I became rather enamored of clothes.”

Along with Carl Apfel, her husband, Iris launched the textile firm Old World Weavers and ran it till their joined retirement in 1992. Through Old World Weavers, Iris Apfel worked in restoration projects with a lot of heavyweight names, including work for nine US presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton. However, success hasn’t eluded Iris even after retirement; she has added a variety of accolades to her resume, including a MAC makeup line, costume jewelry and handbag collection for HSN and “runway model” in her joint 90th birthday celebration with Loehmann.

WHY WE ADORE HER:
COOL: What we think makes Iris so cool is how comfortable she is in her own skin and how she wears her confidence! The cherry on top of this cake is that she is living proof that fun in style is ageless. “I say, dress to please yourself. Listen to your inner muse and take a chance. Wear something that says “Here I am!” today,” Iris told Eric Boman for Rare Bird of Fashion.
ORIGINAL: Iris loves accessories as much as we do! Her accessories are plentiful and have an intriguing way of harmoniously suiting each other and her outfits. Her style is equivalent to a Jackson Pollock painting, unique and hard to imitate. According to Rare Bird of Fashion by Eric Boman, Iris believes she “just mix[es] and put[s] things together the way the spirit moves me.”

FOXY PIECE FOR IRIS:
Iris is best known for how she layers bold colours and chunky pieces and given that style, it is almost a crime to confine Iris to one Foxy piece. However, Iris is sure to love Foxy’s Tribal Necklace. It acts as a great center piece for the layers of necklaces she is sure to pair it with.

Iris, let’s have some tea, kick up our heels and chat about how you’d style the Tribal Necklace.

THE BACK STORY: Stain is money
The “Queen of Prep”, Lilly Pulitzer was born on November 10, 1931 to socialites Robert V. McKim and his wife, Lillian (née Bostwick) in Roslyn, New York. Lilly’s upbringing was privileged and that lifestyle continued even after her marriage to Henry Pulitzer. However, her dress business started from humble roots.

Legend has it that Lilly used to run a juice stand in Palm Beach to keep herself preoccupied. The work was messy and the evidence, juice stains, was always present on her clothes. Lilly’s famous shift dress rose out of necessity; she wanted to hide the stains effectively. The dress “was made from kitchen curtain material — and people went crazy,” Pulitzer said in her book, Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Entertaining. “They took off like zingo. Everybody loved them, and I went into the dress business.”

WHY WE ADORE HER:
FUN: Brights have long been associated with fun; but the combination of interesting prints with bright colours epitomized fun and made iconic by Lilly. Lilly’s fashion evoked a sense of joy and happiness that is otherwise hard to embody within clothes.
PASSION: “I don’t know how to explain what it was like to run my business, the joy of every day,” she told Vanity Fair magazine in a story in 2003. “I got a kick every time I went into the shipping department. … I loved seeing (the dresses) going out the door. I loved them selling in the shop. I liked them on the body. Everything. There’s no explaining the fun I had.”

FOXY PIECE FOR LILLY:
Some of Lilly’s most iconic pieces feature bold patterns and strong colours, specifically, blue, green and pink. Keep those stains in mind, Allegro Necklace Reversible: Blue/Green would attract Lilly’s attention more than anything else.

We miss you Lilly but we hope you are having a party and that it’s happening tonight!

This past Sunday, Foxy Originals ended the weekend soaked in adrenaline (indirectly) – we were at the Toronto Women’s Run! Toronto Women’s Run offers a racing season that serves to inspire women to set the pace. It allows women to connect with others in the running community as well as take part in some friendly competition.

Like the dedicated runners, we showed up at 6 AM for our fourth year at the event to frosty breezes and high energy. This year, our special treat to the half marathon runners was designing finisher necklaces (instead of medals) for the participants of the race.

We had a great time meeting the runners, their supportive friends and family. Like past years, we feel privileged to be a part of this event – we are inspired by the tremendous passion, enthusiasm and motivation these women embody. Thank you for making this year’s run a success as well!

A Foxy lady is someone who has their own unique sense of style, lives vibrantly and has a true zest for life. We couldn’t think of someone who fits the description more than our dear friend Meghan Telpner, Nutritionista. We sat down with her to talk about her new book, and an exciting jewelry collaboration we did together! We just finished reading her book which is both inspiring and life changing. It truly challenges the way you think and feel about food. We were so excited to ask Meghan some questions about her best-selling book.

For those Foxy fans who don’t know you yet, tell us about yourself.

I am a fashion school grad, turned advertising exec, turned nutritionista extraordinaire. After graduating with a degree in fashion, I began working in the fast paced world of advertising where I began experiencing some rather alarming health issues. After three years, and nineteen doctors, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease- an autoimmune, anti-inflammatory condition. Without a known cure, my options were medications and surgery to manage the debilitating symptoms. This was where it all changed. I decided to break a few rules of convention, and try something different. This led me towards exploring nutrition, yoga and meditation- all things that were very new to me. Within a month I was symptom free from this disease and inspired by own experience, I decided to maintain my retirement from advertising and went back to school to study holistic nutrition. And that is how I landed where I am today- running an online cooking school, leading life-changing destination retreats and sharing all of my knowledge, tips, tricks and strategies for living a vibrant life in my new book UnDiet.

What is your creed and what are the creed necklaces?

My creed is something I wrote one summer afternoon at my family’s cottage. I wrote it as a personal mantra for health and happiness and it soon evolved into a philosophy that was guiding both my work and my life- though there is little division. After sharing it on my website, we received so many responses from readers about how much joy, happiness and inspiration it was bringing them. This was when I had the light bulb moment that I wanted to wear my passion. I wanted to keep a reminder of it on me always. And I immediately thought of Foxy and what a great fit it would be to working with their amazing team on this project. That was how the creed necklaces came to be.

Why did you choose Foxy Originals as your partner in creating them?

Because I love Foxy! On the surface, it may not seem like we have that much in common- beyond our love for pink. Lime green and turquoise (how did we end up with the same colour scheme). We share the desire to make life fun, vibrant, and inspired. One of the lines in my creed is to be “Youth, truthful, playful and funful”. That pretty much says it all. Foxy Originals embodies this in every piece they design right to every woman they adorn in their treasures.

 Tell us about your new book?

UnDiet is a fabulous, practical, and modern guide to true health. Without ever using the word “diet,” I encourage major life changes small step by small step in a fun and encouraging voice, and an “abundance mindset.” This book is ideal for those seeking a health promoting way of living.

UnDiet answers the question many people have when they realize it’s time for a change in their diets, a change in their health, and a change in their lives: Where do I start? UnDiet offers a simple, attainable, and most importantly, maintainable approach to living life well. Through the book, readers are guided toward optimal health by incorporating simple lifestyle modifications. UnDiet offers a lifestyle based not on deprivation and painful restrictions, but vitality, mindfulness, and joy. When we raise the bar of how we care for and think of ourselves, that standard gets raised in all aspects of our lives.

What makes your philosophy in this book different than all of the other fad diets?

What makes UnDiet different is that it is not a diet. It is effective, fun and awesome because it simplifies the whole concept of health- and in doing so in reversing chronic health challenges, whether it is hormonal imbalances or weight issues and everything in between. UnDieting is a lifestyle philosophy that is easy to incorporate and unlike fad diets, is maintainable as a fulfilling and abundant lifestyle. There are no weird shakes, pills or starvation. It’s just about doing things that feel good for us. The purpose of UnDiet is to educate women on how they can tune into their own bodies and really decide for themselves what they need- in both food, and exercise and even relationships. Health is an all-encompassing thing and the book covers all of it. The best part is that it is just so simple.

 If you could also tell us which chapter you think relates to the Foxy philosophy?

There is a chapter in the book, Chapter 8, called There Is No Away. It’s about how our purchase decisions- whether it is food, clothes or just stuff, leaves a trail. There is garbage made in the production and garbage made when we’re done with it- and all of this we think disappears when we throw it “away”. Given that the land of “Away” is actually a garbage heap away from the city, that typically still shares the same planet as us- the waste we make never really goes away at all. This is why I love to bits the recycling program that Foxy offers- where instead of getting rid of old pieces that we may be tired of when we want to rock a new style, we can simply send them back and they get made into new goodies. Not to mention- while we’re on the topic of Away and making waste on the planet, I love local and Foxy and I- well, we’re both kicking it here in Toronto.

We want to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Meghan. She went against the grain and started her own journey to health and wellbeing. It’s been a pleasure for us to follow this road, which has led Meghan here to sharing the amazing UnDiet. 

“Each experience in your life was absolutely necessary in order to have gotten you to the next place, and the next place, up to this very moment.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, April 25th, 2013

Time: 12:00 – 8:30 pm

Location: Burroughes Building 639 Queen Street West. Toronto, ON

Shop from designers Foxy Originals, This Is J, Luved Clothing, Melissa Beth and Rent Frock and Repeat. All sales final. CASH ONLY!

Announcing ‘Foxy by Foxy Originals’ for Target!

We are excited to have designed an exclusive line for Target Canada!  The line is Made in Canada and officially launches this week in Target stores.

Q:  Is Target going to have the same pieces that are in the current Foxy Originals collection?
A: The Foxy by Foxy Originals line for Target is a different line exclusively for Target Canada stores.  None of the pieces carried at Target stores are found in the current Foxy Originals assortment.  These are all unique pieces.

Q: Is the line still going to be made in Canada?
A:  Yes, the entire Target line is made in Toronto!  Materials continue to be lead and nickel free.  Only the best for our Foxy fans

Q:  When will I be able to get my hands on this amazing new collection?
Target stores are opening up across the country throughout 2013.  To find the closest location near you visit:
http://www.facebook.com/TargetCanada/app_587948504566614