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Time for another installment of Racked National's travel feature, Summer Fridays, where we show you snapshots from the fabulous adventures of fabulous people in the fashion industry. So come with us, take a little breather on this Friday, and let us whisk you away to a faraway (and sometimes near) locale.
This week's Summer Fridays postcard is from Saint Maarten where Wayne Lee the designer of the modern women's label Wayne recently visited. Lee didn't intend on becoming a designer. After graduating from Vassar College, she went on to medical school at UC Berkeley. In her second year, she felt the call to pursue fashion and decided to pack up and move to New York. There Lee worked as a buyer for Barneys New York. Her co-workers always admired the clothes she would design for herself and in 2007 Lee started her namesake line.
Within a year, Lee received the Ecco Domani award for new talent and in 2009 was a finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Her label Wayne is currently available at retailers such as Opening Ceremony, Nordstrom, and her old stomping grounds Barneys New York.
Wayne Lee: I recently flew for the first time to the Caribbean with my boyfriend Eric Fertman to the gorgeous island of Saint Maarten. As we are expecting our first baby boy this September, Eric wanted to take our ‘last’ vacation. As if new parents never take any time off!
We proceed to settle ourselves into proper vacation mode on the French Caribbean side (apparently the Dutch side does not get cell phone reception). I promptly start off with drinking virgin cocktails on the beach and perusing the white sands and blue ocean. I've never seen water so blue and clear in my life! The colors really do look the same as in the postcards. It inspired me to use vibrant blues and sand-washed silks in my Resort 2012 collection. Lightweight fabrics and sarongs were my outfits of choice with the heat and being 7 months pregnant.
The live music on the island was memorable as well, since that’s when my boy was kicking the most. Must mean he wants to dance! We’ll have to return to the island when he is old enough to test out the theory!
· Wayne [Official Site]
· All Summer Fridays posts [Racked]