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Bell of the Bustle Skirt
By Karin Nelson
Photos by Visko Hatfield
Click on image to see bigger photo or send as a postcard
May 29, 2002/ FWD/ -- While a ruckus has been raised about some of her equally-talented
generational design colleagues -- Jeremy Scott, Zac Posen, and Behnaz Sarafpour, to name a
few - 25-year-old Alicia Bell has kept relatively low-pro for the past five seasons, quietly
crafting richly textured, ultra-feminine clothes for young girls with sophisticated tastes.
And though the Parsons grad and former Vivienne Westwood pattern-cutter is perfectly content
with her current status ("I don't want to be a flash in the pan," she claims) she'll have
to get used to the spotlight, as the buzz on her clothing has been steadily growing.
She's already acquired a stylish fan base that includes Liv Tyler, Shiva Rose, and Kirsty Hume,
as well as up-and-coming pop sensation Vanessa Carlton, who wears one of Bell's bustle skirts
in her new video.
And now hip boutiques nationwide are taking notice.
Although Henri Bendel and Louis Boston have stocked her line since its Fall 2000 get-go
(a collection she didn't even show), she's recently acquired accounts at must-stop shops like
Butter in Brooklyn, Curve in L.A, and Manhattan's TG-170, where they've been having trouble
holding on to her lace trimmed A-line skirts and delicate silk-tied tops.
"My clothes appeal to women who aren't desperate for a man's attention. They're fun and
young at heart and don't care to show it all, but are still sexy in their own way," explains
Bell, who, as a child, drove her mother crazy with her insistence on wearing a pink party
dress everywhere.
Bell has also just launched a website, aliciabell.com, with images of her past two
collections, as well as the vintage pictures that inspire her Victorian-leaning aesthetic.
There's also a contact link that enables anxious customers to get hold of the goods.
"We really didn't intend to sell the collection online, but all these people have been
sending in their orders, so I guess we are," she says with a giggle.
[Back to Alicia Bell Bio & Info Page]
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Alicia Bell backstage during is Fall 2002 presentation.
(Photo by Jennifer Graylock-FWD)
Bell by Alicia Bell Fall 2002
Bell by Alicia Bell Fall 2002
Bell by Alicia Bell Fall 2002
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