Happy New Year from Alexenia!!!!
I haven’t posted in a long time, and that is due to being busy and getting good business selling my holiday gift collection. It’s isn’t clothes- but rather kitchen aprons, towels, hot pads. scarves & some custom made pieces. Here’s an example of some:
(Click on picture to go to find it at my etsy shop)

Now, I am working on a custom order. it is for a Mardi Gras ball in Lafayette, LA, and it is for a dude! This fun project is different than what I usually make- and so it is a refreshing change, since I get to work in shiny, sequin fabrics.
Also- the photographs from the recent shoot of the Fall 2012 collection are finally out! Here are my two favorites- but there are some many more awesome shots.

You can see all of the photos from the shoot on my Facebook page. Oh yeah- please go “like” my FB page as well- I update and post photos there very often about new projects, life of a young designer, and photos!
It sure was a fun shoot- we were blessed with a beautiful and grande location: A 10 bedroom mansion in the one of Houston’s nicest neighborhoods. The host family were all so nice and accommodating. Thank you Johnson family for letting us use your house!
Then- I had (again) an amazing team who each brought the clothes to life with their own gift.
Photography: Melody Ng of MeloStudio
Models: Kristin Qualia & Caroline Mathis of Neal Hamil Agency
MUA: Cassandra of Lust Make Up
Hair & styling: Anthony Dowd.
Thank you- team!

Well this is it for today- or- tonight. It’s 3 am- and I really needed a break before dealing with all that tulle for the gown!

Until next time-
keep it rockin’ !!
Alexenia

this past year has been crazy interesting…
Ever since  officially launching my label in 2010- there were a few sales, but increasing publicity and networking.  Can’t complain… (buy my clothes!!): what I’ve learned is that every publicity is good exposure. The more people see your  product (and this is valid for any business) – the more chances of someone actually buying the product and continues to come back.
As I am still a one person company- and have to take care of absolutely EVERYTHING- any free advertisement I can get- is a blessing.
And so begins this story about being featured on TV this week.

Alexenia has been contacted by Sarah Shah, a nationally respected  image & style coach and author of Dress Yourself Skinny, to borrow clothes for styling on a local morning show. She got my contact from Sydney Dao- manager of DaoChloeDao Boutique (where I sell some designs), and a fashion columnist on YourHoustonNews.com.

OF COURSE I SAID YES! or in other words: Absolutely I do…

It was for a segment on the beloved local morning show Great Day Houston w/ Deborah Duncan on KHOU Channel 11, 9 am weekdays. Fashion weeks are everywhere, and Houston Fashion Week is quickly approaching too, this story was about Houston based designers, who live and produce everything in Houston.

Two garments were selected- the Magdalena gown $220 and the Zoe dress $108.

Alexenia, and models Nida (left) & Jacqueline (right)

Alexenia with image coach & stylist Sarah Shah in the green room

Group pic:

first row left to right:  Jewelry designer Ana Mae of {temple street}, Nida (model), Mrs. Tinkle, Host Deborah Duncan, Jonathan Blake, Brittany (model), Alexenia desinger- Ksania, Jacqueline (model).
second row left to right:  Allison (model), my friend & model Mayra Alejandra, representative from Valobra fine jewelers, Sarah Shah.

On Tuesday, October 2nd- got up early morning (and by early I mean it was still dark)… and headed in town to attend the show. I was in the audience, and brought my entourage of very tired supportive friends – who also got to enjoy being studio audience.  Lets see- 3 wonderful people from complete different times in my designer career. First we had my friend Mai- we worked together at Banana Republic a long long time ago- when I was first starting fashion school at HCC (newbie alert!).  Then- Diane- who was my Pattern grading and computer systems teacher in fashion school, have been always really encouraging and just a cool lady in general. Here we are progressing in time but Alexenia still didn’t exist back then…, and last but not least- a model who walked at my recent show at RAW when Alexenia label existed for 2 years, Mayra.  (see her modeling my dress here)  So 3 different time periods of my life in Houston meet up- it was really cool!
If you’re wondering whether I’ll keep yapping writing more and more about it- or post an actual video- rest your minds- here it is:

The show was really fun, I was in the audience- so I wasn’t shown on screen- but camera does makes me nervous- so perhaps it’s for the best!   (if you watch this interview I gave after the fashion show- you’ll understand my fear discomfort camera skills when it’s  rolling, oh my )

Other cool stuff on the same show beside the fashion part (and in these videos you can see me and my friends in the audience- hooray!) – Master Chef winner Christine Ha was there, Gluten Free Make Up by Red Apple Lipstick (made in Houston too!), Historian Lynn Robertson explained about old expressions origins, and a great public information “gold” about good cheap wines from comedian sommelier Evan Turner !

Well it was a great experience, wonderful opportunity to get the name out there by showing off my work and meeting new people as well as catching up with old friends!

Until next time-
keep it rockin’ !!
Alexenia

Hello again,
Alexenia has been busy since the last post, from personal events to correspondence and meetings. I feel like I rarely have the time to design, sketch and sew. Most of the time ,rather, is occupied with the boring stuff like  e-mails, market research and plain dull paperwork. UGH!!   At the moment, I am a 1 person design team- and so I do EVERYTHING. This way- it’s all done to my pleasing, but also sooooooo slowly ):

To some good news: 2 Alexenia designs will be on TV!!!!  On Tuesday, October 2nd- “Great Day Houston” on Channel 11 KHOU, is doing a segment about emerging Houston fashion designers.  I got contacted by stylist and image consultant Sarah Shah of Imagine Unlimited LLC- to be featured on this well known and loved Houston morning show. Will be interesting… can’t wait to see it!
I have been on “Great Day Houston” before, but as a fashion student- this will be the first time my label and business will be featured there.        ~~~~fingers crossed something good will come out of it~~~
In the meantime- I am getting ready to do a photoshoot for the recent Fall 12′ collection. It’s kind of very late for it, but it must be done!
Teaming up with a new photographer,  MeloStudio, and my usual extraordinaire stylist and friend Anthony- it’ll be a nice cool editorial shoot.
So much work goes into planning it.  Everything need to come first- so what is the very first thing to arrange? –I’m still figuring it out.

-Date, time and location of shoot

-Photographer and concept
-Team – Hair, Make up, styling… – need to assemble a team AND start researching WHAT I want as far as hair and make up concerns- this can take HOURS!
- Inspirations

- DON’T forget- MODEL! For this shoot it’ll be two models!
-logistics for day of shoot: shooting permissions, contracts, food and drink, wardrobe accessories and storage and the list goes on and on and on…

here are some general inspirations and ideas for the shoot…. rough drafts merely.

It’s not until october 21st, but time will slip away quickly as if always does- so I am trying to figure out everything asap. We got models, and clothes, but no location nor hair/make up team yet.
Also- I want to make a few new designs to add to collections. pieces that should’ve be in it, but I had no time to get to them before the fashion show. I simply ran out of time- I was sewing until the very last minute before having to go to the venue!!! (very Project Runway style)
These new pieces will tie the collection more together!
Well- I would wish myself luck but- it’s actualy all in my hands- all I have to do is work and get stuff done. I believe that we create out own fate, with some uncontrolable circumstances around.
Stressed?  Absolutely!
Would I rather do something else? Absolutely not!

Good night (4:40 am…. perhaps Good morning)
Keep it rockin’
Alexenia

Hello Everyone
Welcome to Alexenia blog, I will be sharing news, thoughts and moments from a young designer point of view.
This being my 1st official blog post, I find the best way to launch this thing is to tell you about the recent Alexenia fashion show, which presented the label to a crowd of 300+ and is still being viewed by many.

It started when Alexenia met the artist scout from RAW: Natural Born Artists at an event, and was introduced to this cool organization. RAW is a non profit nationwide organization that features local artists in monthly showcases in each big city across the US. RAW Houston- has these events every month, in the beginning of the month.  Info:  http://www.rawartists.org/houston
In these showcases, artists of many fields get to present their work: there are musicians, painters, photographers, film makers, dancers, and yours truely- fashion designers.
Alexenia shared the stage with 3 other Houston designers: Twenty Acres, Violet Peacock, and RetroTimbre. The preparations for the show were hectic; from designing, patterning &  sewing a brand new collection, to model search and fittings- the time runs out so fast before it’s show time.
With all the sleep deprivation, and the stress- the main thing on my mind was- ” I love doing this. this is what I love to do, and I must put on a great show- it will pay off! “
Also-the fear of failure was a  great motivator too (:
In the end- a 12 look Art-Deco inspired collection made it to the runway. Some dresses, gowns and separates in beautiful colors and exciting prints- I LOVE graphic prints!
See pictures by MoonAuto here, and crowd pics- here.

It was a fall collection, so there was the traditional black and red, and some lace. But I love the combination of red and seafoam- so this beautiful minty seafoam was the staple color of the collection. Combined with black lace overlays, or black graphic strap placements- it worked very well. As always- there were prints- such as the beautiful chevron (in purple-red and blue-black)  knits that opened the show.  I wish there was time to make more garments in that print- to be seen more than just once during the show- but new pieces will be added!
I cannot decide between several favorites on which one is the ultimate favorite. But these are the top ones: Red Plaid Peplum Jacket & shorts (Posh) , Seafoam pleated side dress (Emerald), Purple-Red Chevron gown (Magdalena) and Seafoam & Black  knit backless gown (Emilia).
I must say I was very fortunate to get some gorgeous models, some more some less experienced but they were all really professional and so great to work with.
The hair and make up girls were priceless. Alison of On Stage Hair Design did an incredible job from both mine and Twenty Acres models hair. She also did my hair! now I need to learn how to re create that myself.
For make up- my friends Cora, of Cora Lynn Artistry and Kym Ho- gave our models beautiful smokey teal cat eye which worked perfectly with the collection.
For styling, I ususaly have the best person around for the job, my friend Anthony knows where it’s at! He always stying Alexenia photoshoots, and directs the models for best poses, walks and styling. He wasn’t at this show- unfortunately- but he is a treasure and a secret weapon to work with!

I won’t go to detail about backstage craziness- shortly- it was crazy!
The show was a success- everything looked great, and it came together with the music I chose. show opened with Lacuna Coil “Daytlight Dancer” and ended with Muse “Map of the Problematique” .
Alexenia got a nice write up in Your Houston News online. See full review HERE.

some of the looks from the show:

What is next? Alexenia is looking for new locations to sell the designs, but you can always find them here and on my etsy shop, and custom work by contacting me. For constant updates, “Like” Alexenia by Ksania Lerner Facebook page-  where you can learn about my studio work, and see the action “behind the scenes”- so to speak.

I really hope to do more fashion shows in the future- and then someday to be able to show at Houston Fashion week. For that- I must build up the brand and work work work!

Now you all  have a great weekend
and keep rockin’!
Alexenia

Alexenia will be presenting her Fall 2012 Collection Thursday, August 9th, 2012!
Click HERE  or visit us on FACEBOOK page for more details.

8:00pm – 12:00am

Numbers, 300 Westheimer, Houston

21+ Event. Fashionable Attire. Tickets: $10 online, $15 at door.

Buy tickets for Alexenia HERE.

View the event flyer HERE.

Visit the new page HERE.

Please “Like” us and share with your friends!

Stay up to date on Alexenia’s upcoming events. Find out about store events and new items offered on the website, Etsy store, 76Hudson, Happy Clothes, and all the other wonderful places offering our line.