BY DESIGN : Fashion’s New...
Nina Perenna is a made-up name, the middle name of designer Sherry Salimpour paired with an ancient river in Greece. The 31-year-old designer liked the soft sound and the mystery of the name. Businesswomen and executive wives who buy the line, however, probably don’t care what the label reads--they’re drawn to the garment’s classic design.
“I don’t believe a woman wants to pay $300 for a see-through skirt,” Salimpour says. Her focus on reality over fashion fantasy extends to sizing as well. “When I design something, I wear it. Then my sister wears it. Then the women in the back wear it. If you put it on a model, it’s not reality. I try it on regular people.”
Salimpour was born in England and grew up in Tehran. She studied at UCLA’s costume department before founding her own company two years ago on a highly successful, hip-flattering pleated skirt, as well as requests from television shows such as “L.A. Law,” “Dynasty” and “Falcon Crest” for believable basics. In addition to designing jackets and basic skirts, Salimpour offers little black dresses that are simple and sexy, pencil pants and wrap dresses.
High-quality workmanship and details such as top stitching, covered buttons and linings made of the same fabric as the jacket make Salimpour’s clothes on the expensive side. Dresses are $400 to $750; jackets are $600 to $1,000. A skirt can easily run $300. The line is sold at Fred Hayman in Beverly Hills, Maxfield in Los Angeles, and Modasport in Beverly Hills and Brentwood.
