Mary Alice Haney, a fashion editor and celebrity stylist for Blake Lively, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Lawrence among others, just launched her own high-end luxury brand, Haney.
The idea is to let each woman choose her own gown in a style worn by celebrities, and customize it by choosing hem length, necklines, colors and embellishments including rhinestones and fabrics. Dresses start at $1,000.
Haney says women are inspired by models on the runway, but in the Haney brand they can walk into a party with their own unique dress.
She’s using technology on her website to offer a couture experience at off-the-rack prices.
Haney dresses are Hollywood-inspired and currently made in Los Angeles, but the company recently expanded to New York, where Mary Alice is predicting demand will be strong for the personalized garments.
Haney said she raised around $400,000 from friends and family to launch the company and build the site and its collection. The company has $100,000 in revenue from its first month.
She is currently looking to raise a second round of funding from outside investors.
She honed her creative skills as a student at Parsons School of Design, and has worked as an editor at Allure, Marie Claire and GQ, where she styled cover shoots.
Haney says she gets business advice from her husband, Tom Davidov, who is a managing director at Credit Suisse.
She is launching trunk shows in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Georgia, Palm Beach, Miami and San Francisco.
All are hosted by ambassadors who she says are “the women whose style other women admire and want to emulate.”
In New York, Haney ambassadors include Alex Lind Rose, Eleanor Ylvisaker, Annelise Peterson and Alina Cho.