| Trends to Try Scard of Skinny? Don't be. We show you how to pair Siwy style with the right tops and shoes. Flared Devon 28-inch flared jeans ($205); KensieGirl blouse ($69) and Kensie jacket ($126) from Style Lounge, Cleveland; Steve Madden shoes ($59.95) from DSW, North Olmsted Colored Hannah slim cropped jeans ($198); Glima shirt ($64) from Jennahbella’s, Mentor; Steve Madden boots ($158) from Macy’s, Strongsville Skinny Rose drainpipe jeans ($198); Rojas dress ($148) and T-shirt ($79) from Style Lounge; Gianni Bini ankle boots ($99) from Dillard’s, Beachwood |
One of those is Siwy Denim, designed in New York City by Michelle Siwy and managed from Moreland Hills by business partner Sandra Adamo, who wants to prove a point: If you’re not a woman, how do you really know what fits?
“A woman knows how a woman wants to feel inside a pair of jeans,” says Adamo, who credits her first taste of designer denim to a pair of Versaces she found in a discount bin 15 years ago.
The Siwy Denim partnership sprung from Adamo’s want-ad on Fashion.net. At the time, Adamo needed a designer to help create a line to fit her 11-year-old daughter. Michelle Siwy responded, and Adamo bucked her idea for the “tween” line and offered to be the business brain behind Siwy’s denim designs.
Since Siwy launched in spring 2005, the tailored, tough-but-feminine styles that hug the silhouette and move with the body have won praise from celebs such as Kate Moss, who wears the label religiously, according to Adamo. Siwy also filled Christina Aguilera’s special request for bright red jeans this season.
“Michelle has an eye for what makes a woman’s figure look good,” Adamo says simply. “We know where those certain flaws are and how to hide them.”
True, a woman wants certain things in a jean: a tight abdomen, a firm behind, long legs and none of that bend-over exposure inherent with super-low cut styles. And thanks to a higher-cut waistline in the back, “there is no show-and-tell going on there,” Adamo says of Siwy Denim.
The 97 percent cotton, 3 percent Lycra jeans are stitched with strong thread. Attention to detail is found in embroidered pockets and a handcrafted vintage label made from recycled feedsacks. Hemlines are slightly raised by the heel to prevent fraying.
Best of all? Strategically placed pockets shape the posterior. “Our jeans lift the buttocks,” Adamo says. “You end up with a cute butt when you put on a pair of Siwys.”
Where to find Siwy
Clothing Brigade 1300 W. Ninth St., Suite 400, Cleveland, (216) 621-1700;1785 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, (216) 932-0700
Indigo Nation Eaton Chagrin Boulevard, 28839 Chagrin Blvd, Woodmere, (216) 378-9180
NEXT Beachwood Place, 26300 Cedar Road, Beachwood, (216) 593-0028
