Fourth Avenue’s Zoë Boutique has become known by young women as the go-to place to find trendy everyday wear from lines like Juicy Couture and Cosabella lingerie and jewelry by Tarina Tarantino.
What owner Lissa Marinaro has noticed in recent months, however, is that customers are being drawn to the pieces that they carry by Tucson designers.
In order to fulfill clients’ needs and create some regionalism in the store, the boutique has decided to carry more merchandise by designers here in town.
To showcase some pieces by local designers (which normally hang on a specific rack in the corner of the store), the boutique held an opening reception Saturday afternoon.
Among those present at the laid-back event, which was accompanied with wine spritzers, cookies and holiday music, was designer Diane Dominice, a talented newbie to the business.
Phoenix native Dominice used cotton with a poly-chiffon overlay to create this chic yellow top.
“”So when you put this on, it really feels like a T-shirt,”” Dominice said. “”I like the ease of it.””
The top, which Dominice has also modeled into a tent dress, is worn by Zoë employee of five years and retail and consumer science senior Ashley Lyles.
Lyles works the shirt well with grey skinny jeans she found at Urban Outfitters and the Tarina Tarantino crystal skull necklace, a popular item at Zoë right now.
Alongside Tarantino’s high-end costume jewelry pieces, leggings and long shirts that can be worn as dresses are flying out the door more than anything else.
“”I want to be able to engineer a bust line the way that I want it to look,”” Dominice said. “”So you’re not just putting on a tube dress. I think wearing a short dress, it would look kind of hoochie if it didn’t fit well.””
With her petite frame, the dress looks anything but hoochie mama on Leigh Walker, who modeled it for her designer friend.
Dominice used stretch denim to create the bronze bustier top portion of the dress and wool for the bottom.
Walker, a practicing massage therapist, kept the rest of her look minimal, a smart choice due to the flashiness of the piece.
This gray wool pullover dress, a personal creation that Dominice modeled at Zoë’s event, is a personal must-have for the season, the designer said.
“”I just recently started wearing short,”” Dominice said. “”I am in a professional job in banking and insurance sales, so I resisted short for a long time, but now I want like a bazillion little short, wool dresses that I can pull over.””
Due to its versatility, a piece like this is actually a great purchase for the season. Dominice made hers look modern and very much put-together with a black long-sleeve shirt and matching matte tights.
Dashes of her own style are added to the outfit in accessories such as a funky charm necklace, which she found at Zoë, and black round-toe Calvin Klein pumps, a marked-down item she came across at Dillard’s. Score.
