“Success is a product that I believe in that sells even during a bad economy,” stated designer Dana-Maxx Pomerantz in her showroom as she confidently held up a hanger holding one of the dresses from her namesake collection, Dana-Maxx that she has designed for the last 5+ years. By this definition, she’s realizing success as the Dana-Maxx label is popping up in stores across the country in increasing numbers, & one would be hard pressed to argue that these are “boom” times in any definition of the word.
Architecture is her main point of inspiration in her work & for Fall 2012, she seems to have found the Art Deco Architecture – think Radio City, The Empire State Building & the Chrysler Building – as particularly inspiring as the geometric details of the era are evident throughout, especially on sleeves & waistbands. The customer she has in mind? A 25 to 40’s professional woman who is looking for a wardrobe based in separates that can easily transition from day to evening with a simple accessory update or a layer removed. To that purpose, it’s no surprise that there’s always a base of Black to which the colors work back. Her colors are strong – Red (she refers to as a “Red-Orange like lipstick”), Electric Blue, Navy, Camel & a surprise addition of a Dusty Orange that seems like an odd addition on the face, but works in nicely when viewed as a whole.
The silhouettes are predominantly dress based, ranging from fit & flare, shifts, & even some full options like tunic shapes or true A-lines. There are some inventive takes on pants as well, one that merits special mention had a geometric peaked-front waistband pant that beautifully embodies the day to evening design credo of the collection.
While the collection is created in a “truly designer” manner, meaning that Ms. Pomerantz doesn’t simply shop the market for popular styles & reinterpret them in her own way, the way so many others in the genre are wont to do, she does compare herself in spirit to the well established names like Milly, DVF & Nanette Lepore, but only in terms of who the Dana-Maxx collection hangs with in stores. She studied both fashion design & business in school & judging from the way she creates her collection & speaks so confidently about it in a matter of fact, no nonsense manner, it’s pretty obvious she didn’t just take the business courses to fulfill the requirements of a major. Dana-Maxx is a collection that is not only of a high quality of design, it’s also perfectly merchandised & produced (100% in the U.S.A. by the way…) to sell… aka: Success!
-Scott French
Designer website: www.dana-maxx.com
