KLEINFELD BRIDAL - Key Persons
Since the company's founding in January of 1999, Anne Barge wedding gowns have been renowned for combining timeless elegance with current trends for the discerning bride. The launch of Anne Barge established the perfect blend of contemporary and classic styles, with the use of the finest materials and detailed beading with modern interpretations of shapes and embellishments found in vintage couture designs throughout history.
Serving as the President and Creative Director, Shawne Jacobs began her career at Anne Barge in 2002, learning every aspect of the bridal business and honing her design skills under the tutelage of the company's namesake, Anne Barge. Since assuming her role as Creative Director in 2014, Shawne continues to evolve the Anne Barge aesthetic of "modern classical" with new fabrics, details, and silhouettes. "Anne Barge designs are timeless and memorable," notes Shawne. "Each gown is created to make a woman feel confident and beautiful."
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Antonella
- Briar
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Brooke
- Candace
- Cierra
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Alla
- Chloe
- Cierra
Mara Urshel has more than 30 years of unparalleled experience developing and marketing luxury merchandise, and is one of the best known and respected executives in the retail apparel industry. During her 20-year tenure with Saks Fifth Avenue, she was Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager, and was directly responsible for Saks' divisions representing 41% of Saks' total volume and 60% of Saks' total profit. Ms. Urshel was responsible for the merchandising and logistics for 28 new Saks store locations.
Recognized as an innovator in her field, Ms. Urshel is credited with pioneering the development of Saks' successful women's private label brands, Real Clothes and The Works, and with identifying and introducing many designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan, Perry Ellis, Michael Kors and others. In high demand for her unique ability to develop original retail programs that consistently generated high sales and profits, Ms. Urshel was subsequently employed by Casual Corner Group and Geoffrey Beene Company in executive management positions, and served as the only American on the Merchandising Board of Japanese retail giant Seibu Department Stores.
After 30 years in the luxury retail industry, Ms. Urshel extended her illustrious career to include ownership and management of Kleinfeld Bridal. Since purchasing the famed bridal store with Ronald Rothstein and Wayne Rogers, Kleinfeld has enjoyed surging sales and success under Ms. Urshel's hands-on management, which emphasizes unparalleled customer service. She has, along with Ronald Rothstein and Wayne Rogers, led Kleinfeld's move to Manhattan. Urshel currently devotes all of her time to managing the Kleinfeld business along with Rothstein, and has been involved in all aspects of planning, building and launching the 35,000-square foot Kleinfeld flagship store in Manhattan as well as expanding the Kleinfeld brand nationally and internationally.
Ronnie Rothstein graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and practiced law in Miami, Florida. He held various management positions at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, which was family owned and operated.
During the 1980's and 1990's, Ronnie and his Los Angeles based partner, Arnold Perry, operated Perry Rothstein Partners, a boutique investment banking firm specializing in providing capital, business strategies and consulting services.
Ronnie, Mara Urshel, and Wayne Rogers, of M*A*S*H fame, purchased Kleinfeld in 1999 and Ronnie has been the CEO ever since. Ronnie and Mara devote all of their time to managing the Kleinfeld business and were involved in the planning and building of the 35,000 square foot Kleinfeld flagship store in Manhattan as well as the expansion of the Kleinfeld brand nationally and internationally. Ronnie appears weekly in the TLC hit series, "Say Yes to the Dress."
Job Titles:
- Bridal Designer
- Designer Spotlights
Vera Wang has created a unique aspirational world that alludes to sensuality and a youthful, modern sophistication. Born and raised in New York, Vera Wang spent part of her education and career in Paris. At only 23 years old, she became the youngest ever fashion editor at American Vogue, where she stayed for 16 years. Wang then joined Ralph Lauren as Design Director.In 1990 she began a sweeping makeover of the bridal industry with the opening of her first flagship bridal salon creating a ground-breaking fashion aesthetic in an industry dominated by classic designs. Her innovative and cutting-edge take on bridal is legendary, her gowns are regularly chosen by A-listers and tastemakers for the red carpet and for celebrity weddings.Wang has won several international awards, including the Legion of Honor from France. She is recognized for her commitment to social causes and for her advancement of the fashion industry as a whole.
This first collection from Vera Wang Bride represents the designer ́s unmistakable fashion language and philosophy-freedom, experimentation, individualism, and innovative proportions with a measured dose of fantasy. Exaggerated scale and structural silhouettes blend with artisanal details, and luxurious textures. These are dresses full of artistry and whimsy for the more fashion forward bride. Tumbled skirts, engineered lace work, exposed corsetry, fine pleating are combined with feathery headpieces and voluptuous flowers framing the body and face. From flowy A-line to dreamy princess, minimalist sheath to organic micro-beaded mermaid, Vera Wang Bride fuses high fashion with modern romance.
Designer Zuhair Murad grew up in Baalbek, Lebanon. Since his childhood, he always dreamed of evading to a world of fantasy. He started sketching dresses at the age of ten, quoted as saying "I don't recall a day in my life without a pen in my hand!". In 1997, Zuhair Murad opened his first atelier in Beirut, catering to a growing private clientele. In 2001, Murad presented his couture collection for the first time during Haute Couture Week in Paris, gaining momentum with international media. In 2005, Murad debuted the first Zuhair Murad Ready-to-Wear Collection, a more simple - yet still aesthetically glamorous - contemporary line designed to meet the expanding needs of his clientele.
In 2007, Murad inaugurated his Parisian "Maison de Couture" in the heart of the Triangle d'Or on "François 1er" Street. The ground floor of the Parisian showroom is dedicated to ready-to-wear collections , whereas a new luxurious yet simplistic floor is inaugurated to display the couture and bridal dresses; it contains a workshop and a design studio conceived as an extension to the Lebanese Fashion House in Paris. In 2014, he officially inaugurated his bridal boutique located in his eleven-story building in Beirut, where his wedding dresses are sold and displayed.