A Lifestyle blog based in Sonoma County, in the heart of Wine Country. Amber is an outspoken voice for local activism, local wine tourism, and more.

A Mused Blog: Jovani Interview and Showroom Visit #NYFW



with Jovani CEO and designer[s] Abraham and Julie, at MAGIC
My trip to New York was a whirlwind of adventure and beautiful designs. One of the biggest highlights of my trip was being able to follow up with the connection that I had made with Jovani while in Las Vegas last August. After booking my NY flight, Jovani was the first phone call I made. I called and asked if they would be willing to do an interview for A•Mused Blog. To my overwhelming delight, they said yes! Below please find my interview with Abraham Maslavi, the CEO and a designer of Jovani.

Amber: I am so thrilled to be here. Thank you so much for having me. To start off, I would like to introduce you to my readers. Let's start with where you grew up. 

Abraham: I grew up in Iran, lived in England, and I moved to the US at about 15 years of age. My father began this business in 1980, and now it is my brother and I running everything. It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful to be around all the beautiful ladies, and all the beautiful dresses, and making all women feel beautiful. Regardless of size or shape, it’s about making everyone feel more feminine, and beautiful. That’s my daily inspiration.

Amber: I think that’s something that really comes through with each and every design that I’ve seen today: the love of the female form. It’s down to the fabrics, the hand beading, it’s a pure celebration of the female. Jovani really does address and apply to any size, any form. 



Abraham: Absolutely. And you know when we go to the shows, and we see the ladies and the look on their faces and the way they feel when they wear Jovani, that is what inspires us to keep going. It’s The look on their face when they have the dress on: you can tell that they feel great. You can tell that they feel the way that they thought they would feel when wearing an evening gown..Jovani dress gives them that feeling. It’s wonderful. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Amber: Right! You can’t help but smile and be happy when you’re here. I’m surrounded by these gorgeous dresses, and I haven’t stopped smiling. And it’s everything, it’s the dresses, the colors..It’s spectacular, really.

Abraham: Thank you. Thank you. Yes, exactly. And of course to have the best team working together from every angle..we couldn’t do it without them. We have a wonderful team of people working together here. From Felicia and to the 60 people that we have working together here just in New York.

Amber Wow.

Abraham: Yes. We have designers traveling all over the world, getting ideas, getting fabrics, understanding trends, setting the trend, and so on. It’s not just my brother and I, but a whole team of people coming together to create this wonderful end product. It’s fantastic.

Amber: And you can tell that everyone is working really well together, because I don’t think you could have this large collection of work that you do, without a team that’s really cohesive.

Abraham: And you can feel it when you walk in here - a warmth, right?

Amber: Yes! I do. I felt it when I stepped off the elevator.

Abraham. That’s wonderful, thank you. Thank you for saying that. We work hard on that.

Amber: Well even at the tradeshow, at MAGIC, that’s what stopped me in my tracks. Of course the dresses caught my attention, but it was also the atmosphere that was in that booth.

Abraham: You felt the love.

Amber: I did, actually. I did feel the love.

Abraham: We appreciate everyone. To make a dress it is about so many different people coming together to do their job properly to make a dress come out the way it does. Then at the shows, for the customers to come - and retail is very difficult, our employees standing on their feet all day, waiting for the customers to come, we cherish them. That is what you felt. An outpouring of thanks. That’s what everyone needs, a little more attention and love. 


Felicia, holding up the most incredible dress!

Close up detail - hand beaded skulls

Amber: Definitely.

Abraham: And nice dresses (laughs)

Amber: Yes! And nice dresses. Do you ever get to turn it off? Or is it a lifestyle that you lead?

Abraham: It’s a twenty-four hour thing. If there was another ten hours in the day, it would be thirty four hours a day.

Amber: Now, I know this is a bit of an unfair question, but do you have a favorite silhouette (of a dress) that you tend to gravitate towards?

Abraham: It’s constantly changing. See the dresses that you see that are hanging, they are beautiful. But as you saw at the show, once they are on a body, they are breath taking.

Amber: Yes! Very true.

Abraham: Some of these dresses that you see are hanging, they are stunning - But some of them we haven’t even seen on yet.

Amber: I think that is one thing that I noticed at MAGIC; the dresses when they are hanging are absolutely stunning. But when you see them on the models, you actually notice the models first, before you notice the dress. Because the models

Abraham: Are happy!

Amber: Yes! They’re happy, they’re radiant, and they’re glowing. You see that first, and then you see the dress.

Abraham: Right. That’s the feeling I was talking about.

Amber: Yes. I think that’s magical..That you can design a dress where you see the woman first, before you notice her clothing. Because what it does is it makes her memorable. And I think when that happens, your dress, your design has done it’s job. I mean, what more could you ask for?

Abraham: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
© A•Mused

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A Mused Blog | A Northern California Sonoma County Blog