PROFILES: Stephanie Stein
WRITER
Madison-USA
DATE
October 22, 2018
The Madison-USA team caught up with Stephanie Stein founder of S2 Stephanie Stein Management and Costume Couture Coordinator of HighBall. Stephanie Stein has been representing talent for over 38 years and helped put Columbus fashion on the map through her efforts with HighBall.
It was delightful to sit down with Stephanie to talk fashion, influence and her background in Columbus.
TELL US ABOUT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND YOUR INFLUENCE ON COLUMBUS?:
"So I started out in the modeling business. I worked for a model agency in 1987 when I first moved here, took over ownership of the agency in 1996, and kind of grew the agency where we started working a lot with the brands that are based here, Abercrombie, Hollister, Victoria's Secret, Express limited, and through that relationship was able to build a lot of great networking. I started doing HighBall, which is a huge fashion event. And I think HighBall was one of those events that kind of put Columbus on the map for fashion."
"And as I was just saying, I work a lot with Suzanne Cotton, who is the director of the fashion department at CCAD, Columbus College of Art & Design. And through my relationship with her I have worked with a lot of those designers and they graduate anywhere between 30 and 40 designers a year. And they have great relationships with the brand. So a lot of those designers stay in Columbus and work for the brands. They have a very interesting program there where they're one of the few fashion programs that actually teach the designers how to design for themselves versus designing for somebody else. So you have all these brand new designers coming out in the world and becoming independent fashion designers. And I think just my relationship with her, the Short North Alliance, and all the events that I've done have kind of created that brand of number three for being able to keep fashion designers here.
WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON THE SHORT NORTH AND IT'S GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE YEARS?:
Well, my office used to be down here. It used to be that Rigsbee's was the only nice restaurant and it was kind of a scary place to be. But, I mean, it's definitely come a long way. It's got a lot of great galleries, lot of great retail. And I think that it's helped as well. There's people like Maren Roth who has helped to kind of elevate the fashion here at Columbus and the independent stores. And I think she was one of the first boutique stores to really be able to thrive and be successful here.
And it's allowed other places like Madison, and I know Brigade, and Lady Bird, she's been there for a long time. And so Happy Go Lucky is a new one, or one that's been there for a few years now too. So it's definitely helped in putting the fashion definition on Columbus.
WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON COLUMBUS' GROWTH AS WELL THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, DO YOU THINK THE SHORT NORTH VIBE CAN EXPAND TO OTHER AREAS IN COLUMBUS?:
I actually think it has. I mean, just in the last five years, Grandview, which only have a couple little stores on their main drag has now become kind of like a mini Short North where they have a lot of high-end designers, high-end boutiques and restaurants. And they've picked up that kind of like you said, Short North vibe. Even Dublin, I don't know if you've gone up to Dublin lately, they're building a bridge to connect all of that new growth over to the old part of Dublin, which is something I've always enjoyed. They have really cool restaurants there too but it's just a little small area and now that's expanding. So I think Columbus is definitely a city on the move, and I think that it's going to be ... And it is, it's becoming a destination for a lot of people.
It was delightful to sit down with Stephanie to talk fashion, influence and her background in Columbus.
TELL US ABOUT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND YOUR INFLUENCE ON COLUMBUS?:
"So I started out in the modeling business. I worked for a model agency in 1987 when I first moved here, took over ownership of the agency in 1996, and kind of grew the agency where we started working a lot with the brands that are based here, Abercrombie, Hollister, Victoria's Secret, Express limited, and through that relationship was able to build a lot of great networking. I started doing HighBall, which is a huge fashion event. And I think HighBall was one of those events that kind of put Columbus on the map for fashion."
"And as I was just saying, I work a lot with Suzanne Cotton, who is the director of the fashion department at CCAD, Columbus College of Art & Design. And through my relationship with her I have worked with a lot of those designers and they graduate anywhere between 30 and 40 designers a year. And they have great relationships with the brand. So a lot of those designers stay in Columbus and work for the brands. They have a very interesting program there where they're one of the few fashion programs that actually teach the designers how to design for themselves versus designing for somebody else. So you have all these brand new designers coming out in the world and becoming independent fashion designers. And I think just my relationship with her, the Short North Alliance, and all the events that I've done have kind of created that brand of number three for being able to keep fashion designers here.
WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON THE SHORT NORTH AND IT'S GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE YEARS?:
Well, my office used to be down here. It used to be that Rigsbee's was the only nice restaurant and it was kind of a scary place to be. But, I mean, it's definitely come a long way. It's got a lot of great galleries, lot of great retail. And I think that it's helped as well. There's people like Maren Roth who has helped to kind of elevate the fashion here at Columbus and the independent stores. And I think she was one of the first boutique stores to really be able to thrive and be successful here.
And it's allowed other places like Madison, and I know Brigade, and Lady Bird, she's been there for a long time. And so Happy Go Lucky is a new one, or one that's been there for a few years now too. So it's definitely helped in putting the fashion definition on Columbus.
WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON COLUMBUS' GROWTH AS WELL THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, DO YOU THINK THE SHORT NORTH VIBE CAN EXPAND TO OTHER AREAS IN COLUMBUS?:
I actually think it has. I mean, just in the last five years, Grandview, which only have a couple little stores on their main drag has now become kind of like a mini Short North where they have a lot of high-end designers, high-end boutiques and restaurants. And they've picked up that kind of like you said, Short North vibe. Even Dublin, I don't know if you've gone up to Dublin lately, they're building a bridge to connect all of that new growth over to the old part of Dublin, which is something I've always enjoyed. They have really cool restaurants there too but it's just a little small area and now that's expanding. So I think Columbus is definitely a city on the move, and I think that it's going to be ... And it is, it's becoming a destination for a lot of people.
HOW DO YOU THINK MADISON-USA CAN PLAY A PART IN THIS GROWTH IN THE SHORT NORTH AND COLUMBUS?:
Well, I think that what you're offering is something different than a lot of the places that are already existing and have been there for a while. Well, you've got the street clothes and your affiliation with athletics and sports. I mean, that definitely draws attention to yourself. So I definitely think that you have something to offer that's going to really help grow that area, especially where you're at. I mean, that's one part of the Short North that still needs to.
