(Getty)The Boy Meets Girl Spring 2011 show, presented as part of STYLE360's CARAVAN Express Your Love event (sponsored by Starbucks Frappucino), was a breath of fresh air. A two-song performance by current alternative chart-toppers Neon Trees ushered in a host of fresh-faced models, most of whom sported big smiles with their flirty, often military-inspired sportswear.
Stacy IgelBoy Meets Girl founder Stacy Igel, who recently sold a majority stake in the company to The Moret Group, told StyleBistro that it was her favorite show yet—and her favorite collection. Pretty impressive, considering it all came together in a matter of three weeks.
"Everyone was excited, because I had new models, bloggers [Lindsey Calla of Saucy Glossie and Liz Cherkasova of LateAfternoon], a celebrity [Jenn Proske of Vampires Suck]. Everyone was a new, fresh girl, and they were so thankful to be in the show. That's part of Boy Meets Girl—I always look for rising stars, and girls who want to fulfill their dreams."
Several of the models featured in the runway show were personally selected by Igel in an online modeling contest through Explore Modeling. In an adorable twist of fate, one of the aspiring models uploaded her audition video to a Neon Trees soundtrack—and found herself staring at them as the band sat in the front row.Igel, who has been developing all aspects of the Boy Meets Girl brand for about nine years, has big plans for Boy Meets Girl over the next year. She's planning an expansion into new categories, including legwear and sleepwear, and hopes to have e-commerce up and running on the Boy Meets Girl site within the next few months. She's also filming a web series for MTVU which may or may not be called "Behind the Seams with Stacy Igel."
"It's basically me and my world," Igel shared. "It's going to be very educational for college and high school students, learning about do-it-yourself items and what it takes to be a designer. I'll be interviewing other designers and other people in the fashion industry. I don't want it to be...'reality,' just mostly educational—but you have to glitz it up a bit."
So what advice does Stacy have for aspiring designers?"I think what's really important is learn all facets of the industry. If you're in high school or college and you know you want to be a designer, I would still take a class in communications. Work as an intern with a PR company one summer, and work for a design company the next summer, just to see if that's right for you."
Igel, who sent her models down the runway with brightly-colored Silly Bandz on their wrists, explained, "If you want to be in this business, you have to work really hard. My motto is 'Think, Say, Do.' You can't just think it's going to come to you."
"There have been so many competitors along the way—people manufacturing better than me, reality stars coming with a line out of nowhere—all of that was happening while I was trying to build something. Just keep believing in yourself, because if you become distracted by your competitors or your suffounding, you're going to fail. Look ahead, keep moving, keep believing."
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