Stacey Bendet

Bendet was born in 1978 to Olivia (née Bendet) Wiener and Joseph Daniel Wiener.[2][3][4] Bendet is of Jewish heritage[5] and had a bat mitzvah celebration.[6] Bendet's father ran a textile import business,[7] while she herself was interested in fashion and clothing from a young age.[7][8] Bendet graduated from Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York and studied international relations and French at the University of Pennsylvania in 1999.[9]

In 2002, Bendet and a University of Pennsylvania classmate founded Alice + Olivia.[8][10][11] The brand was named after her mother Olivia, and her classmate's mother Alice.[8][11] Bendet's desire to make "a trouser sexy" and "the focus of an outfit" led to her modifying a pair of jeans that were cut slim at the hip to create the illusion of elongated legs and a lean silhouette.[12] Designer Lisa Kline noticed her walking by and ordered twenty sets of the outfit,[7] which provided an opportunity for Bendet to launch a collection based around that concept at the Russian Tea Room.[12] Soon after, the department store Barneys New York placed an order, and Andrew Rosen, developer of the Theory fashion line, offered to finance Bendet's new business.[7]

The brand has since grown into a full lifestyle collection that features ready-to-wear, gowns, shoes, tech accessories, and handbags.[13] Freestanding boutiques have opened in over 30 major cities around the world, with a current total of 38 stores.

She married film producer Eric Eisner, the son of Disney executive Michael Eisner, on the Caribbean island of Anguilla in 2008.[7] The couple have three children: Eloise Breckenridge Eisner,[14] Scarlet Haven Eisner,[15] and Athena Belle Eisner.[16] She splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.[17]

Bendet practices Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga.[18][19]

She is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America board of directors and the GOOD+ Foundation board of trustees, and she supports Ronald McDonald House. She also sits on the board of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, her alma mater.[20]

Bendet has appeared on the Vanity Fair Best-Dressed list four years in a row and is in the Best-Dressed Hall of Fame.[21][22]

• alice + olivia official site