Sister Act
Picture this: two sisters--both beautiful, talented--decide that Los Angeles commands center stage for the high drama that is women’s clothing design. One, Diane Levin, immigrates to L.A.; the other, Janice Levin-Krok, remains in their native South Africa to design clothes distinguished both by sumptuous fabrics and exquisite detailing.
What happens next is pure Hollywood: A buyer from Saks Fifth Avenue falls in love with Levin-Krok’s designs. Soon, her body-conscious clothes are available in upscale stores throughout the United States. In 1993, the sisters found Poleci (pronounced “policy”), whose signature fluid slip dresses, sheer tanks and low-slung pants are seen on Heather Locklear, Julie Brown, Courteney Cox and Shari Belafonte. And, as a fitting denouement to this made-in-L.A. Cinderella story, last fall Poleci was named 1997 California Designer of the Year.
“There was such a huge learning curve when we came to L.A.,” recalls Levin, who was an attorney in South Africa before taking the helm as Poleci’s CEO. “I was living here and Janice was still overseas, so she would shuttle back and forth to get the line ready for Saks. We worked out of my apartment, sealing the clothes in plastic bags we bought at a local dry cleaner and shipping them in boxes I bought from U-Haul.”
The sisters and their co-designer, Tom Nguyen, canvass the world in search of choice silks, sensuous matte jersey and body-hugging Lycra that have become Poleci’s trademark. “Everything starts with the fabric,” says Levin-Krok, sitting in Poleci’s elegantly spare showroom at the California Mart, where the spring line, which she and Nguyen designed, hangs artfully against the walls. “You have to know which fabrics are right for each style. It sounds simple, but it’s not.”
“I was sitting in a restaurant and I saw a woman wearing one of our tops,” Levin adds. “It was such a weird feeling because I had inspected every one of them before they were shipped. I wanted to go over and tell her all that went into that top before she bought it. But she probably wouldn’t have believed me.”
