Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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STYLE OF GENEROSITY RIGHT: Stephanie Pierotti. BELOW LEFT: A Stella shirt. BOTTOM: Two of Pierotti's inspirations, her great-greatgrandmother Antonia Pizani Fazende (LEFT) and her grandmother Daisy Belle. Shop Love STEPHANIE PIEROTTI IS ON A MISSION: TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM BLIND CONSUMERISM, ONE CUTE TOP AT A TIME. BY ELENA JACOB "You need to understand the implications of your spending." — 104 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUCKY WENZEL (PIEROTTI); STEPHANIE PIEROTTI (STELLA); COURTESY OF STEPHANIE PIEROTTI (BELLE, FAZENDE) "E very time you open your wallet, you're voting." That's Stephanie Pierotti's driving principle, which spurred her to start two community businesses this year, both inspired by the power of the consumer to shape society. Launched in June, ShopLOV (Shop Locally Owned Vegas) is a clearinghouse of locally owned businesses that aims to help Las Vegas residents learn how to support the local economy and why it's important. Her own contribution to that economy? Avondale Shirt Company. Pierotti was inspired by pictures of her ancestors, especially photos of her great-aunts working as models in the 1920s and '30s, and Avondale celebrates women's beauty without objectifying it. This is what brings her to the Stitch Factory in Downtown Las Vegas, where her growing collection of vintage-inspired blouses, T-shirts, and pajamas will soon hit the market. The brand's initial lines, all produced through fair trade, include Nightcap's pajamas, inspired by Prohibitionworking to remedy it ever since. era cocktails; Project Moxie, whose focus is female invenBoth ShopLOV and Avondale are fueled by tors; Sacre Bleu!'s comfortable high-end knits; Dreux's Pierotti's desire to create a close, supportive commuvintage-style blouses; and Saucy Minx's casuals featuring nity in Las Vegas. She believes this can be achieved by amusing midcentury pulp artwork. bringing attention to the interaction between microIn keeping with her community-minded mission, each and macroeconomics. "You need to understand the STEPHANIE PIEROTTI implications of the money you spend," she says, and of Pierotti's clothing lines is tied to a charity that's close to her heart, with one dollar from each sale going to a she supports her case with solid facts. Research from good cause. Proceeds from Project Moxie shirts, for instance, go to Girls the business alliance Local First, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, shows Inc. to encourage math and science education for girls. that in western Michigan, for every $100 spent at nonlocally owned busiBorn in New Orleans, Pierotti was raised to always support her friends nesses, only $43 stays in the community. Compare that to $100 spent at and neighbors, a credo she carried to Los Angeles, where she got her start locally owned businesses, which results in $73 staying in the community, in the fashion and retail fields working with brands such as Hot Topic and supporting charities, schools, and police and fire departments. BandMerch. When she moved from LA to Las Vegas in 2007 to work as a Building the local economy may be as simple, Pierotti says, as "being marketing consultant for independent businesses, she noticed a startling responsible and making good decisions." It seems that a better community disconnect between those businesses and area residents, and she's been starts not only at home, but in your wallet. shop-lov.com V VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 104_V_SS_StyleOfGen_Dec13.indd 104 11/19/13 10:38 AM