This was a project that came full circle working with Joan Collins. Here’s the story…

As a boy, when my parents named me “Alexis”, it was a boy’s name. It was fairly unused in the US but in Russia and Greece it was common. When Joan Collins played “Alexis Carrington” on Dynasty she changed everything. I’ve been defending the masculinity of my name ever since. Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980′s was particularly difficult. I still get mail addressed to “Ms. Alexis Bittar”.

In regards to the ad campaign, the concept was created through a six degree level of separation. Our PR Manager Pascale was having lunch with Joan and Joan mentioned (not knowing that Pascale worked for me) that she had recently lost an earring of one of her favorite designers… turns out, she was talking about me. She has been collecting my work for 10 years.

Behind the scenes- me looking on from a distance.

Pascale called me after her lunch to tell me this story and I was with my friend Edwin (who incidentally is one of the legendary members of the House of Extravaganza) who said, “You should have Joan be the face of Alexis Bittar. ‘Alexis for Alexis Bittar’!” And that’s how it happened.

More behind the scenes

I’m thrilled to have her represent the line because she deserves credit (and hasn’t received it) for much of the 80′s fashion that is mimicked today. When I think “Opulence”, I think “Joan Collins and Dynasty”. Having used younger models in the past I liked that she was older and more mature. She’s the perfect person to represent the brand, company and me.

Stylist- Marie Chaix, Hair- Jimmy Paul, Photographer- Anthony Maule

We’ve raised $50,000 so far this week! Thanks again to everyone for helping us raise money to donate to Catholic Relief Services.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day- let’s make it a big one.

As you can see on our homepage we’re donating 100% of sales this week (Mon 1/18 – Fri 1/22) to Catholic Relief Services for Haiti Relief. CRS uses 93% of donations directly to the cause, which is pretty amazing.

I just want to thank everyone so far for making purchases on the website. We’ve raised $25,000 since yesterday! That’s great- let’s keep up the good work.

I’d also like to give a shout out to the blogs that posted the announcement, thanks for helping us spread the word. And to everyone else on Facebook and Twitter, etc that have posted and re posted the event, thanks to you guys too.

I’ll keep you updated as to how much we’ve raised throughout the week.

Happy New Year everyone! It’s taking me sometime to do a proper post, but I promise it’s coming. I took some pictures over the Holidays that I’ll be sharing with you later this week.

Stay tuned!