YOU SAY YOU WANT A VAPE REVOLUTION?
THE SOCAL-BASED ONE-STOP VAPING SHOP AND DISTRIBUTION
COMPANY IS CHANGING THE WORLD FOR THOUSANDS
OF EX-SMOKERS WORLDWIDE
Introducing the Vaping Community to a Dynamic New Level of
Elegance, Sophistication and Cool, the Rapidly Growing
VapeRev as a Groundbreaking Force in the Cultural Phenomenon
With its Vast Selection of High Quality “Mods” and “E-Juice” Flavors
The thousands of people worldwide whose lives have been transformed by the powerful and growing cultural phenomenon known as “vaping” probably don’t know the names of the brilliant minds that have helped make their dynamic switch from traditional tobacco cigarettes to inhaling from personal vaporizers possible.
According to Amber Lee, Chief Communications Officer for the groundbreaking Cerritos, Calif. based VapeRev (www.vaperev.com) -a fast growing one-stop vape shop and national distributor of a wide array of vaping products- the very first electronic cigarette was patented in 1963 by Herbert A. Gilbert, whose cigalike device heated the nicotine solution and produced water vapor. In those days, traditional smoking was considered cool and was even advertised on TV, so his device was not popularized until later. The 1963 cigalike is now being sold with Emperor Brand.
Forty years later, Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik designed a specialized vaporizing device that produced a satisfying vapor that could be inhaled and provided a steady nicotine delivery into the bloodstream.
These days, with “vaping” as much a different lifestyle as an alternative to tobacco burning cigarette smoking, the time is ripe for the kind of elegance, sophistication, hands on customer service and education offered by VapeRev. Launched in June 2012 by the husband-and-wife team of Amber Lee and Charn Premyodhin, the groundbreaking, multi-faceted company has redefined the experience for vapers in SoCal and beyond. In just a few years, VapeRev has grown to a current team of associates that includes nearly 70 employees.
VapeRev’s initial store location is as much a relaxing and comfortable social environment to “hang” and meet old and new friends as a place for vapers of all ages (literally, from 18-90!) to learn about, test out and purchase the best e-juice flavors and “mods”, the beautifully crafted vape devices whose stainless steel and brass exterior houses an atomizer heating element and includes a “drip tip” mouthpiece which is used to inhale.
The reason for the growth of the industry is obvious. With vaping, there’s no flame, no burning, and therefore zero combustion takes place. The practice addresses one component of smoking, nicotine, without having to combust 600 ingredients into over 4,000 chemicals, with over 50 of them known to be cancer causing.
Amber explains, “The liquid used in the mods essentially contains two ingredients: propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. The atomizer is a heating element. When combined with the e-liquid produces a water vapor. It’s a push button device operated by a 3.7-volt lithium ion battery, and everything is customizable and interchangeable so customers can create their own customized vaping experience.”
One of the keys to Vape Rev’s rapid expansion was partnering with Tony Boriboonratana, a financial services veteran who is now Chief Operating Officer. In addition to handling executive recruiting and Human Resources, Tony manages the company’s wholesale team, and the relationships with the juice vendors, and oversees business operations and professional services.
Charn estimates that at any given time, there are 20-30 models for sale that VapeRev purchases wholesale from top manufacturers around the world. When they launched, their first products were imported from China, and now – as they seek the best “mods” from around the world – they sell items produced in Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, and Romania) and Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Philippines, and India), along with several made in the U.S.A.
Amber adds that VapeRev carries approximately 140 different “e-juice” flavors with various levels of nicotine (in increments of 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 mg -with selected brands- per bottle). These include sweet flavors like dessert, drink, coffee, and candy, as well as tobacco, menthol and even a cucumber flavor. As Charn, who smoked cigarettes for 20 years before vaping changed his life, says, “I get more satisfaction out of vaping, and there is also the relaxation factor. Plus it tastes so much better and I don’t smell like tobacco. My wife likes that!”
“We are always trying to find the best products, engineering wise,” Amber says, “so our product acquisition team literally searches the world for the best products to sell. We have developed a reputation as true trendsetters in the vaping industry and people are interested in buying what we’re selling. Some guests come in and know exactly what they want, and others need to be educated to find the best products for them based on their specific needs, including the level of nicotine they want in their juices to ease their transition from normal cigarettes. It’s not a high pressure sales environment. We’re always here to give as much education about our products as we can so our guests can make an educated decision about which products will best match their lifestlye.”
The parallel success stories of Vape Rev’s storefront and the industry in general over the past few years led the company to expand into the distribution realm with their subsidiary, VR Distribution – which provides shops around the country (from the Pacific Northwest and SouthWest to Florida, New York, Chicago, etc.) with high quality e-juice, personal vaporizer hardware, and accessories. As Tony explains, “If an outlet orders directly from a Chinese manufacturer, there could be a two-week to two-month lead time, and guests won’t wait that long. Ordering from our distribution company eliminates that and is more efficient for everyone.”
Currently in an exciting expansion mode, Vape Rev is planning this summer to open what will become their flagship location (designed by the renowned L.A.-based firm Mass Architecture) on the ultra-trendy Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Charn’s vision extends to opening more locations in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. and around the world as the company and vaping industry continues to grow. Eventually he would like to obtain an international reach.
Because vaping is still a young, growing industry and the world at large is still learning about it, there is unfortunately a huge amount of negative propaganda and misinformation floating around that can distort the true facts about how it works and its attributes and benefits. To that end, the education-driven VapeRev has a FAQ and Glossary section (http://www.vaperev.com/glossary/) on its site for newbies, and a blog page featuring a articles and videos on hardware, juice profiles, events and lifestyle.
VapeRev supports SFATA (Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association). SFATA has started a high-profile “Age to Vape” campaign to make sure the public understands that the company is very strict on only selling vaping products to adults 18 and older. The principals believe that those under 18 cannot make the proper decisions about vaping and are ethically bound to making sure that the age limit is enforced. As vaping as become more popular, some store owners have been stigmatized as promoting the practice among young people – but VapeRev is run by responsible business owners who are committed to promoting only high quality products and experiences for adults.
For those curious about the impact vaping has on people’s lives (particularly the lives of former smokers), VapeRev endorses (though is not formally affiliated with) the “I’m Proof” Movement (www.improofmovement.com) (#IMPROOF), a community dedicated to highlighting “an improved lifestyle” by people who have made a decision to leave cigarettes behind. Their website is full of powerful, often emotional testimonies by people whose lives have been radically improved by their switch to vaping.
Like many entrepreneurial success stories, Charn and Amber’s entry into and rise within the vaping industry began with an innocent, almost whimsical moment that sparked a passion that wouldn’t let go. And like those legendary companies Apple and Amazon, VapeRev started in their garage.
The couple were at an outdoor barbecue and Charn – who grew up cooking in his family restaurant and later opened a successful restaurant (Maleyna’s) and then a catering business (CJ’s Paella catering) - ran into an old friend who was visiting from Las Vegas. The friend was vaping on a popular vaporizer known as the eGo-C Twist. Charn, who had tried unsuccessfully to stop smoking for years, didn’t expect much when he tried it, but calls the result a “mind blowing moment.”
Charn asked his friends a ton of questions about the product and where he got it, and soon he was heavily researching the vaping concept. He realized that one of the things holding vaping back from becoming a bigger phenomenon was a lack of support and troubleshooting from manufacturers. He took $2,000 from a recent catering gig and bought a shipment of Ego-C Twist products from a Chinese manufacturer. Then he started advertising on Craigslist and soon had a huge customer base in Cerritos and the surrounding area. Driven by a mix of top quality products and the support and education that customers needed, the VapeRev was born – and quickly outgrew their home and moved to their current store.
“We opened in mid-2012 with a solid built-in following, and it was standing room only,” says Amber. “People were recognizing us as pioneers of our industry that played a crucial role in bringing vaping to the mainstream and making it a lifestyle. It was never just about making money for us. Some vape outlet owners just want to sell their products and profit, and that’s understandable. But for us, it was about sharing, educating and feeling like we were in a position to truly change the world. We saw and still see the opportunity to create a culture where traditional smoking is minimized and vaping becomes not only a lifestyle trend, but a foundational way of life for millions of people. We found our passion in knowing that we could help people change their way of life.”
GREG PARADY HELPS RETIREES
LIVE “YOUR LIFE YOUR WAY” VIA AN
EMPOWERING, EDUCATION BASED CULTURE
The Founder/CFO of The Villages, Florida Based Parady
Financial Group – Who Recently Made Regional News
As “Layaway Santa” – Treats His Retirement
Planning Clients Like Family
While most financial services firms create websites with pages of dry, tedious copy explaining the brass-tacks specifics of how they help their clients, Greg Parady, Founder and CEO of Parady Financial Group, uses the intimacy of professionally shot and edited YouTube videos to reflect their unique business culture.
The clips on the firm’s homepage allow viewers to get to know him, his dedicated staff of 22 women (including a six member planning team, whom he estimates have a combined 140 years of dedicated industry experience), and their devotion to empowering clients and prospective clients through education while treating them like extended family members.
Since launching in 2001 in The Villages, Florida, a retirement community recently dubbed the “nation’s fastest-growing metro area” by the Orlando Sentinel, Parady Financial Group, Inc. has helped thousands of retirees and those near retirement age achieve a all too often elusive peace of mind. They create individualized plans based on conservative investment planning strategies, a wide array of market resistant financial products and their clients’ specific plans and goals for their retirement years.
As Parady explains his firm’s focus, “We maximize the living benefits of life insurance and annuities to establish guaranteed income for life and create a tax efficient retirement and protect your principle from stock market volatility. Our goal is to create a plan about you – your life, your way.”
Cutting back and forth between Parady himself, the office environment and personal heartfelt testimony from just a few of those more than satisfied retirees, the videos give a dynamic overview of the world his staff jokingly refers to as “Parady Nation.” The clips include images of active seminars in the Learning Lounge, the office’s seminar driven education center, and Parady’s straight talk about his essential role: to “educate clients on the products we use to implement their strategies, reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of every product.”
The Lounge is fashioned like a small lecture room that holds events every two weeks (three nights a week) explaining what Parady Financial does and covering specialized topics like annuity strategies and how to use the complexities of the tax code to one’s advantage. The firm often brings in renowned speakers to talk about key topics like real estate planning and recently invited financial expert Ed Slott, named “The Best Source for IRA Advice” by the Wall Street Journal, to speak about the complexities of retirement accounts.
Unlike most firms that have a single evaluation meeting with a client before taking them on, Parady Financial is less about pitching and sales and more about taking clients on an engaging, 2-3 month process to making sure prospective clients understand all the strategies and products available to them before they commit. The team at Parady Financial is committed to a process based on a deeper understanding of the pros and cons and fees and benefits of each strategy, so clients understand everything before they buy – and so there are no surprises later.
“We use very sophisticated strategies in our annuities,” Parady says, “and it’s not uncommon for us to work with five or six types of contracts based on our client’s longterm goals at any specific age. We always know there is a 50-50 chance that they will want to change course and make adjustments when they realize just how well our strategies are working for them, so we have to create initial plans that are flexible enough to change on the fly.”
Those checking out the home page videos will also meet Parady Financial’s Managing Partner Cindy Nazzaro, who joined the firm in 2008. She works with Parady in managing the internal growth of the company and oversees the marketing and community outreach programs. Parady considers Nazarro’s joining forces with him as a breakthrough in the firm’s fortunes. He credits her with fostering their family environment via her “I Love You” marketing approach, which quickly became a mantra in the office.
“She’s in charge of overseeing the team that takes care of clients and loves on them constantly, which helps build a different kind of equity with them long after they start to work with us,” he says. “A lot of them tell us that in their previous experiences with other firms, once they’re on board, they can’t get their advise on the phone. We’re the opposite. Our clients get a world class experience on a daily basis. I’m not close to my personal extended family and had always wanted to create that for my business. When Cindy and I met, I knew she was the right person to build that family like environment. We share in our clients’ success and the personal challenges and health issues in their life as well. In our lobby we have a sign that has ‘We Are Family’ stenciled in, and we live it.”
Parady, who launched his career in the mid-90s as a long term care annuities and insurance specialist with Bankers Life and Casualty and quickly became one of the youngest people (age 22) to qualify for their Million Dollar Roundtable, adds, “Keep in mind that at the point Cindy joined Parady Financial, I already had 12-13 years of success in the business and knew what I wanted to build. I had partnered with professionals who cared more about money than people and never chose to go that route. Since Cindy joined, we have experienced 40 percent growth each year. I had a team of eight guys working for me, and now it’s 22 women and two men – so very literally, everything gets done efficiently. Cindy helped me build a company that was not a sales based environment but a planning, education and advisor based program.”
Another key player that helps set Parady Financial apart from other retirement driven financial services firms is Senior VP and CFO Kathie Lassiter, a veteran CPA and Certified Financial Planner with 25 years experience who manages the firm’s tax team, including two additional CPAs and three other accountants.
Parady says her diligent, detailed work in the realm of future tax planning is a powerful element in creating successful individual retirement plans. “Most CPAs I have met are great at giving clients an historical picture of what they owed last year, but Kathie has the uncanny ability to go beyond that and help them with their future taxes,” he says. “Most tax firms today are wired to help people reduce today’s taxes. She takes into account what they might be in the future. Part of what we offer is tax mitigation. Our specialty is designing strategies that help people get money out of a tax deferred position such as IRAs and 401(k)s into a tax favorable or tax free position.
Kathie reviews and works on every income strategy we design, with a focus on the tax implications. It’s important to be proactive in tax planning. We take a practical look at the future. Part of our clients’ learning process is understanding how this works. If you’re not taking taxes into account, and don’t understand what your tax rates might be in the future, how do you know you’re getting the right retirement plan? Who cares what takes your money away, the IRS or stock market? When it’s gone, it’s gone.”
As a means of creating goodwill and a strong social presence in their region north of Orlando, Parady Financial is recognized as a philanthropic pillar in the community, regularly sponsoring charitable fundraisers and charities and causes important to the firm’s team and their clients. These include an annual October breast cancer event), annual food pantry fills, Coats for Kids at St. Jude’s Hospital and impromptu Red Cross fundraising and blood drives after natural disasters.
Typical of the deep connection that Maine born and raised Greg Parady has with his beloved adapted hometown, he became something of a media sensation this past holiday season (reported on all local major network affiliates, national wire services and the Huffington Post) as the “Layaway Santa” paying off $21,000 in customer layaways (76 people in all) for complete strangers at The Villages Walmart.
Every year, Paraday Financial spends $5,000 to fill a trailer full of goodies for Toys For Tots. On December 7, Parady went to the store to pick up bicycles for this year’s event when he overheard a woman saying she didn’t know if she could afford her layaway this year and might have to cancel her order. He asked the manager to tally up all the layaways, and was struck by the sheer number of families striving to put presents under the tree. He knew he couldn’t pay off the whopping $89,000 total, but offered to take care of $21,000.
Then he started swiping his card – so actively that his controller had to stay on the phone with three different banks to get through the automatic declines that result when there is too much activity on a card at one time. He not only paid off the layaway for many of those on the list, but also on the spot for people who approached the department thinking they would have to cancel their orders. Like George Bailey after returning to the real Bedford Falls in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” he’d say “Merry Christmas!” after each swipe.
Walmart operations manager Deb Davis was quoted as saying, “It was like stepping back in time when life wasn’t so busy and so hectic when neighbors were helping neighbors.”
Though he certainly didn’t intend to attract this sort of media attention, Parady hopes that his renown in the larger community from this event will help in some way to give him a platform to share the truth about the value of annuity based financial planning.
“In general,” he says, “I think the media does a poor job talking about the contracts and benefits involved in the kind of planning we do here. There are tons of financial shows out there, telling people how to increase their wealth and pay down their debt, about about the hot stocks of the moment. But no one’s really talking about the practical, everyday conservative minded retirees and soon to be retired workers about how they can never outlive their money if they invest in this type of insurance. What about the hundreds of thousands of people with no pension who need to figure out a way to create income for life with the money they have accumulated?”
Ironically, Parady didn’t grow up aspiring to a career in the financial services industry. His first job out of high school was working for Macy’s in Boston, a gig that led to retail management opportunities. Yet his early family experiences help him connect and empathize with the personal circumstances of his clients’ lives. The oldest of five children, he moved back to his hometown in Maine (several hours north of Portland) when his father suffered a third heart attack. One of his old friends asked if he ever considered selling insurance and made the introduction to Bankers Life and Casualty, with whom he ultimately which launched his career.
“One of the things that attracted me to long term care insurance and annuities, and drove my desire to do so well so quickly, was that I grew up with the same kind of uncertainty and anxiety with health and money issues that my clients had,” he says. “I was inspired by my role of helping take away those anxieties, because I understood their fears of loss. Their concerns became my own very naturally, because they were so similar to those my own family had. It was as if I had stumbled into the industry with a lot of answers and an ability to help people with their needs – something I could have never dreamed of growing up. Within a few years, I was the top agent in the region and already set up financially for life – but I wanted to start my own business where I could design customized plans rather than just push a single company’s products.
“When I left Bankers,” Parady adds, “I had a non compete in Maine for a year, so I moved to Florida, fully intent on someday returning to New England. When I saw how large the retirement community was in The Villages as compared to back home, it became the perfect place to launch my own firm. When I moved there, the community had 18,000 people. Now it’s up to over 100,000. It was the perfect place to be of service and give peace of mind to a wide range of wonderful – many of whom I feel blessed now to call a part of our family at Parady Financial.”
BETTIE PAGE CLOTHING
LEGENDARY 50’s “QUEEN OF PINUPS”
HAS INSPIRED KATY PERRY, MADONNA,
RIHANNA, THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS—AND
THE DYNAMIC HUSBAND AND WIFE
TEAM BEHIND A GROWING WORLDWIDE
FASHION EMPIRE
Launched By Commercial Financier Jan Glaser and
Russian Born Fashion Designer Tatyana In 2007, Bettie
Page Clothing Has Boutiques In Las Vegas, Hollywood,
San Francisco and San Diego—And Sells Its Line To
Boutiques In 57 Countries Around The World
First famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos, Bettie Page died in 2008 in her mid-80s, but her youthful, sexy image (including jet black hair, blue eyes and trademark bangs) continues to captivate millions of men and women worldwide.
Tying in perfectly into America’s obsession with all things 50’s-60’s retro via events like the annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender and the TV smash “Mad Men,” Page has inspired millions of women around the world to want to dress the “Bettie Page way.”
Those who live in or near Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury and San Diego’s Gaslamp District have had a big advantage in making this happen since Jan Glaser, a commercial financier, and his brilliant Russian born fashion designer wife Tatyana launched their Bettie Page Clothing (www.bettiepageclothing.com) boutiques.
Upon her passing, MTV wrote that without the “Queen of Pinup”’s generation hopping influence, a whole slew of contemporary icons would have different looks. Katy Perry would not have those rocker bangs and throwback skimpy jumpers. Madonna’s “Sex” book and fascination with bondage gear might not exist; Rihanna could be obsessed with other things besides leather and lace and second skin binding. Page is also a huge part of Uma Thurman’s style in “Pulp Fiction,” burlesque actress Dita Von Teese’s entire career, and the look and vibe of The Pussycat Dolls.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who chose her as one of his earliest Playmates of the Month, once said, “She was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society.”
Opening their first store in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood on the Strip in Vegas in 2007, Glaser and Tatyana have tapped into this widespread divine madness and created a phenomenon that seems boundless. Beyond the current locations, including the Fashion Show Mall in Vegas and the Gaslamp store, which opened in October 2010), there are future expansion plans in the works for locations in some of America’s premiere tourist destinations: Newbury Street in Boston, Manhattan, The Twin Cities’ Mall of America and South Beach.
The first store opened with 20 distinctive women’s dress styles designed by Tatyana; the stores now carry over 200. Bettie Page Clothing also carries T-shirts and lingerie designed by famed cheesecake/erotic/pinup artist Olivia De Berardinis, whose work has graced the pages of Playboy for years--and whose “fantasy” Bettie Page art helped lead to a resurgence of interest in the model’s life and career in the late 80s and 90s. The stores also sell originals and first editions of classic Bettie paintings by Olivia.
Beyond the U.S. retail locations, the Bettie Page Clothing brand has gone global, with boutiques in 57 countries around the world selling its products. According to Glaser, it’s exceptionally popular in Australia, the UK, Europe and Canada. This universal acclaim for Tatyana’s retro fashions is all the more incredible when the businessman reveals the fascinating truth that when the couple first conceived the idea of launching a boutique in Las Vegas, their goal was simply to have an outlet for Tatyana’s classic styled clothes. The licensing for Bettie Page’s likeness and name came later when they ran into a roadblock trying to lease a location in the Miracle Mile Shops.
“We didn’t even think of her designs as specifically retro, we just loved them,” says Glaser. “We were simply seeking a way to brand her products. It was a great investment and we knew we were taking a great leap of faith. We didn’t have the Bettie Page name until long after we decided on the concept, which was vintage, plastic style dresses. But mall ownership wouldn’t lease to a store that was a stand-alone and brand new. They agreed to lease to us, however, if we could come up with a recognizable brand name. Realizing that a lot of women who wore retro dresses were big into that resurgent rockabilly scene, we Google’d ‘rockabilly icons’ and Bettie’s name came up. We made a simple business inquiry on the Bettie Page website, and it was a fairly easy process to license her name for our fashion enterprise. Bettie Page Clothing now has exclusive rights to using the name for fashion worldwide.
“What’s ironic is that, as our business took off, we realized that only 20 percent of our customers were from the rockabilly community,” he adds. “The other 80 simply like Tatyana’s styles, which truly sell themselves. They fit beautifully, are moderately priced at an average of $120, and are very unique. You can’t find dresses like this anywhere else. People tell us they buy here for different reasons. Some say it’s because her dresses remind them of what their mothers wore. Others love the way they hug their curves without being vulgar. Anytime Tatyana wore them somewhere, people would stop her and compliment the dress she was wearing. Very quickly, we knew we were onto something.”
Tatyana grew up in a small village in Russia and studied art, dance fashion and music at the University of Culture in St. Petersburg before pursuing a career as a fashion model. While modeling mostly Russian designers, she was also working at the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg, where she first met Glaser; the two married and she moved to the U.S. Growing up in Russia, she saw many American movies from the 1950s, loved the styles and wondered why women in the modern age weren’t still dressing like that. She first learned about Bettie Page when she moved here and realized that people associated her with the luxury of the 1950s lifestyle.
“When I began my career as a designer in the U.S., my goal was to create fashions that would appeal to those who loved the styles from that era,” Tatyana says. “I realized that people were tired of seeing the same dresses that all look alike in every store. They want something different and don’t want to live in that crowd. It was important for women to be sexy but at the same time not have too much exposed. It was clear from modern fashions that they left nothing to the imagination and there was no mystery. I tapped into the idea that women wanted to have mystery again. My designs are mature and feminine but leave a little to the imagination, and men appreciate the puzzle. The answer to what inspires me is simple: movies. I love pastel colors and black and red, which are classy and popular in any kind of clothes. Turquoise and green were also popular in the 50s and I love using those colors as well.”
As Glaser and Tatyana discovered, there is more to the Bettie Page mystique than her iconic modeling images from the 50’s and 60s. The model’s dark personal history creates for some fans an image of her as a tragic icon, a rebellious soul cut from the same cloth (and from the same era) as James Dean. After years of being out of the limelight, she was diagnosed in the late 70s with acute schizophrenia and, after an assault charge, was placed under state supervision at a mental hospital for many years.
She didn’t know that her mysterious disappearance from the public eye led to a cult resurgence in her popularity; then in the early 90s, Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” interviewed her and “Entertainment Tonight” produced a segment on her. Hef and Mark Roesler, founder and CEO of marketing and management firm CMG Worldwide (and an expert on the intellectual property rights of celebrities), helped restore her name and career and allowed her to finally earn royalties from her work. This included monies from the previous ten years, when her name and image became a licensing phenomenon.
“When we opened our first stores,” Glaser recalls, “we would ask our customers what they liked about Bettie. They all said the same thing –the fact that she disappeared for a long time even though she was still alive. She was a dark, rebellious version of Marilyn Monroe. Not just a fluffy, frilly model from another era but a disturbed person with real problems and a tragic history. People identified with that. Bettie’s famous expression was that she was never the girl next door, and I think people latched onto the female James Dean mythology. There’s danger, edge and rebelliousness – all of which is now reflected in Tatyana’s striking, era capturing dresses. The whole Bettie persona has helped make our business internationally recognized, but it’s Tatyana’s loving dedication to detail which makes our fashions so compelling. Her creative expression glorifies the beauty and mystery of women everywhere.”
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