NEW YORK — Sarah Jessica Parker, LL Cool J, the Kardashians, Madonna, Kayne West and Beyoncé all have one thing in common: They launched clothing lines that didn't live up to the hype and in many cases were outright failures.
That's what makes Daisy Fuentes' success so spectacular.
The 46-year-old Cuban American talk show host and model has fashioned a line of goods, including clothing, hair care, fragrances, sunglasses and accessories, at Kohl’s that has racked up more than $1.5 billion in a decade and generates sales of $300 million a year.
“People say, ‘It looks great on me. It is easy to build an outfit with it. It is fashionable without being expensive. It flatters my figure.’"
The secret to her success: "I'm making fashions I want to wear," she told USA Weekend. "I started in my closet and talking to the women in my life. You get to know your customer, who is not very different from me and my friends."
Fuentes, currently a co-host ofLa Voz Kidson Telemundo (it's the Spanish version of the hit show The Voice with children as contestants), has recently fended off more recent celebrity competitors like Jennifer Lopez, who also has a collection at Kohl's, and Sofia Vergara, who launched a collection at K-Mart.
For her 10th anniversary show, Fuentes centered her collection around life on the Malibu beach, with "the sunlight in your eyes, the sand between your toes, the tide running against your feet," as she explained in her program notes. The collection has a beachy vibe, with colorful maxi dresses, silk jumpsuits, cropped camisoles with palazzo pants, striped shorts with tunic tops and lace shift dresses.
It has a easy, breezy feeling with beach coverups, knit kaftans, and neoprene tops with chiffon skirts in shades of sea blue, pale pink, bright orange and cream and fabrics, ranging from suede to lace to chiffon.
“It’s not girly. It is flattering. It’s tastefully sexy, but not overly sexy. It has strong prints,” Haim Dabah, executive director and group president of LF USA, which designs, sources and markets Daisy Fuentes for Kohl’s, told Women's Wear Daily. “People say, ‘It looks great on me. It is easy to build an outfit with it. It is fashionable without being expensive. It flatters my figure.’ As long as we stay true to that, the brand has another decade at least.”
Daisy Fuentes bustier top, bomber jacket and maxi skirt.
