Sponsorship Link
If you've been to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, you've probably noticed a lot of signs and memos reading, "Brought to you by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Director of Fashion at Lincoln Center." As the person who oversees Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week from the big picture--both now and in the future--to every small detail in between, one probably would assume her life is full of glamour with fancy parties and events around the clock. But at the end of the day--a very long day, to be exact--Stephanie Winston Wolkoff is a mom, which led her to create an event for one of fashion's most important weeks in celebration of and to empower moms worldwide.
/
In partnership with The Moms, Mom-entum, Big Fuel and Getting Gorgeous, Winston Wolkoff was vital to making "Strut: The Fashionable Mom Show" a reality for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. It's a realm that has never quite been explored amidst the world of pin-thin models and couture. But according to Winston Wolkoff, "fashionhood," a term she uses to describe the parallels between fashion and motherhood, does indeed exist and she is helping to bring that project into the spotlight.
"It's green-lighting an initiative, that's almost unprecedented, with a spin," Winston Wolkoff told the International Business Times. "This is a huge demographic that is never really tapped into. The timing couldn't have been more perfect."
Must Read
As a mother of three, Winston Wolkoff truly is an archetype of "fashionhood," after spending almost 20 years immersed in the fashion business. From her role as director of special events at Vogue under Anna Wintour to her current position as founding director of Fashion at Lincoln Center, serving as a liaison between the countless parties involved, Winston Wolkoff believes that not only can mothers be fashionable, but gain strength from mixing style and raising children while working.
"When I met The Moms, to me it was an empowerment of moms," Winston Wolkoff said. "I recognized the concept and celebrated the hard work of all of these mothers and I find it extremely relevant to everyday life."
Follow us
But Winston Wolkoff didn't just "love the concept" of a mom show, it resonated with her personally. With her extremely busy role as founding director of Fashion at Lincoln Center, she frequently finds herself torn between her hectic work schedule and spending time with family.
"It's taking that personal life with three children and being able to juggle fashionhood, fashion and motherhood," Winston Wolkoff said. "I feel that, being in a position where I'm doing something every day, I can intrinsically do something that's going to make women feel good."
For many women, it's simply impossible to juggle a time-consuming career, while having the time and energy to tend to their families. But seeing how Winston Wolkoff pulls it off proves that the impossible can indeed be done.
"My family always comes first. I'm constantly trying to seek that perfect balance," she said. "There's never a way to fully have the best of both worlds. But I do find ways to mix work and family together."
Winston Wolkoff told me that her children are frequent visitors in her office, where they sometimes do their homework. After her work day ends, she goes home and has dinner with her family before tucking the children in, and then on occasion even goes back to work, but never to superfluous events.
Sometimes Winston Wolkoff makes her children a part of her work. For example, during the Fall 2012 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Winston Wolkoff brought her daughter to explore the Barbie dream closet at Lincoln Center and had all three children tag along to see Victor Cruz of the New York Giants cut the ribbon to start Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, much to their pleasure.
"By doing that, that's something that they love and enjoy and that's something I have to do."
But Winston Wolkoff did not learn how to juggle out of nowhere. Her former job at Vogue as director of special events under Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour helped prepare her for almost anything thrown her way.
"My tenure [at Vogue] truly taught me everything that I needed to do to know how to take this next step," she said. "It truly allowed me to connect with all parts of the fashion industry. The events I produced united the industry and, sometimes, literally under one roof. I have to say that was my greatest gift," she advised, describing those Vogue years. That period taught her to operate with autonomy "to produce, create, implement, oversee the most incredible fashion events in the world."
