Our Bullog
Fashion designer to surface designer
I studied fashion design, and was a practicing designer. I traveled throughout Europe and Asia for years going to factories, fabric shows, trend shopping and so on. I began using a Macintosh computer for design work the day it went on sale, met my future husband at the first ever MacWorld Expo in Boston, MA, got married, and had 2 kids back to back. This is Ronnie Meckler my husband. Ronnie and my kid’s on an NYC stroll. Family life beckoned, and went from "on the road fashion designer" to "stay in town print designer". With a commitment to the Mac in it's early stages as my tool of choice, I experimented with ways I could use the computer in fashion. A true lover of graphics and pattern I channeled my attention there when I made the changeover and moved into Ronnie’s design studio. I come by my love of pattern honestly with a mom famous for her printed Italian wrap dresses in the seventies - pattern was everywhere in my world. Here's a photo of a paisley patterned wrap dress by mother Eva whose company was called Eva for Robert Janan I designed five groups with 10 patterns within each group and created a Jackie Shapiro pattern collection, I called on Jill Weinberg of Splash Studios to represent me, and made the full career shift. Here's a snapshot of a typical pattern group I might design within a theme for my Jackie Shapiro line with Splash Studios. Jill's studio broke ground early on. She was a fellow fashion person promoting the use of computers in the biz, and had always cultivated, and supported artists who’s work was inspired, and on trend. I was in great company and very free. The patterns cover themes and styles I dabbled in. Splash was a lab for me where I could design a "group" in any theme or style and put it out there. I developed a bunch signature looks with themes like room-scapes, game boards, maps. I did ballet class themed prints for little girls, manipulated photo florals for tweens, golf themed prints for guys, sophisticated abstracts for women. Eventually I gained a nice following with some high profile loyalists and saw my work pop up on PJs, handbags, bathing suits, gift-wrap, towels, and bedding. I've designed a lot of map patterns, below is a classic NYC one I designed for Sportsac which I love.
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Always been into Pattern
My love of pattern, and fashion was an innate default.My Hungarian Grandparents built one of Bucharest’s most stylish stores on the elegant Calea Victoriei in the 1930s and 40s. They fled to Santiago Chile after the communist takeover of Rumania to start anew with their daughters Eva and Gabriella. Here's a picture of my Grandparents stepping out My mother Eva came to NYC in the late 1950s by way of Santiago, Chile. Married my father Oscar Shapiro, went from fashion model and then to fashion designer and entrepreneur. Eva was a founding partner of Eva for Robert Janan; a company that throughout the 1970s and early 80s, made fashion headlines with what was to become their ubiquitous wrap dress and easy two-piece dressing philosophy. The dresses were in beautiful patterns printed in Como, Italy, at a factory Diane Furstenberg would also come to share. In my teens she'd take me on work trips where I got to see first hand how technicians meticulously monitored the silk screens insuring the pattern and color was being produced to perfection. Here's a picture of Eva that she used for her hang tag A typical Eva sketch Robert Janan Label. I definitely have the pattern love bug. For a few years before I got married I had toddler line called IZZY. It was sold at Bendels, Saks and Fred Segal in LA. Here's picture of some little girl tops I found packed away. Bold color, flowers, dots, stripes were and still my thing. Here's a picture of me and business partner at the time West Murray in our IZZY office. I LOVE PATTERN!
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