The name of their business is a testament to their friendship.
Westchester grandmothers Lois Rosenthal and Minoo Hersini combined and reversed their first names when they joined forces to answer a specific need that wasn”™t being met in the fashion market ”“ high-end, luxury white blouses.Â
“We practically live in white shirts, and we decided to create and build something of our own,” Hersini said. Â
The best friends”™ couture line of white blouses, Sioloonim, debuted its fall/winter collection in Los Angeles during L.A. Fashion Week last summer and will host a fashion presentation in Manhattan for Fashion Week in mid-February, where they will be launching their spring/summer collection.
Rosenthal, a former special education teacher and owner of a bath and body product store in South Africa, and Hersini, owner of Au Ciel design studio in Irvington, met six years ago when Rosenthal”™s daughter was planning her wedding and Hersini was hired for floral designs and event planning.
The blouses are made in Tuscany, Italy.
“Both Minoo and I believe in quality, and we wanted to use fine fabrics and do excellent work,” Rosenthal said. “We decided that Italy would be the place to do it.”
Prices range from $450 to, for the top of the line handmade blouses, $1,200.
“We didn”™t expect in the first season we would do great, but we”™ve managed to do some sales,” Rosenthal, of Scarborough, said.
The fall ”™09 line includes four colors of one style of skirt that complements the shirts. The skirts, which come in white, chocolate, slate gray and midnight blue, will be presented in two lengths.
Rosenthal said although the white shirt will always be the focus of the business, “we would love to do a kids line and a men”™s line.”
Hersini said the joy that she and Rosenthal have found in the process of starting their business “and the strength we get from it is the message I want to send to other women; it”™s never too late to pursue your dream.”
Rosenthal said fashonistas have offered praise for the Hersini-designed blouses.
“I put a lot of confidence and respect into her creativity,” Rosenthal said of Hersini. “I just think the world of her, and as far as I”™m concerned there”™s nothing she cannot do.”
