Stacey Bendet
Stacey Bendet (born 1978) is an American fashion designer, founder, CEO, and creative director of Alice + Olivia, a contemporary clothing company based in New York City. She is also the founder of Creatively, a networking platform for the creative industry, co-Founder of BIGFEELINGS, a sleep-to-streetwear concept, and co-founder of the #ShareTheMicNow movement.

Early life and education
Bendet was born in 1978 to Olivia (née Bendet) and Joseph Daniel Wiener. Bendet is of Jewish heritage and had a traditional bat mitzvah celebration. Bendet's father ran a textile import business, and was "involved in one of the country's leading lace-manufacturing companies" while she herself was interested in fashion and clothing from a young age. Bendet graduated from Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York and studied international relations and French at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1999.

Stacey Bendet is the CEO and Creative Director of the brand alice + olivia and the co-Founder of BIGFEELINGS, a sleep-to-streetwear concept.

Career

alice + olivia 
In 2002, Bendet founded Alice + Olivia. Bendet proposed a jeans-style cut slim at the hip to create the illusion of elongated legs and a lean silhouette. Designer Lisa Kline noticed her walking by and ordered 20 sets of pairs, which provided an opportunity for Bendet to launch a collection based around that concept at the Russian Tea Room. Soon after, the department store Barneys New York placed an order, and Andrew Rosen, developer of the Theory fashion line, offered to finance Bendet's new business.

The brand has since grown into a full collection that features ready-to-wear gowns, shoes, tech accessories, and handbags.

In March 2022, Stacey Bendet and tech entrepreneur Randi Zuckerberg teamed up to make the NFT and the Web3 economy accessible to all women. Alice + olivia is offering a limited edition NFT — an animated digital avatar of the Stace Face 20th Anniversary rainbow print, which gives priority access to an exclusive online course from Zuckerberg, taught on the Creatively website.

In April 2022, Stacey Bendet transformed several of the prints from Alice + Olivia’s Spring 2022 collection into the line for Tempaper (a brand of removable wallpaper).

Creatively 
In 2020, she founded and launched Creatively, a networking platform for the creative industry. In April 2021, Creatively raised in $5 million.

In March 2022, Creatively raised $8M in funding. The round was led by Thirty-Five Ventures, Rich Kleiman, Link Ventures, Tornante Company, and entertainment lawyer Kevin Yorn.

In 2023, In partnership with CULTURED, Creatively announces plans to launch its inaugural digital and experiential event, CreativelyCultured, honoring over 100 creatives discovered on the platform.

#ShareTheMicNow 
Also, in 2020, Bendet co-founded an Instagram campaign called #ShareTheMicNow to bring African-American women's voices to the forefronts of predominately white women's Instagram accounts in an "account takeover" format.

Incidents 
In 2018 Stacey Bendet’s company filed a lawsuit against the Steve Madden-owned Betsey Johnson label for copyright and trademark infringement. Alice + Olivia accused Betsey Johnson of using Bendet’s signature face, the "StaceFace," on its bags.

Personal life
She married film producer Eric Eisner, a son of former Walt Disney Company executive Michael Eisner, on the Caribbean island of Anguilla in 2008. The couple have three children: Eloise Breckenridge Eisner, Scarlet Haven Eisner, and Athena Belle Eisner.

Bendet practices Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga.

Bendet has appeared on the Vanity Fair Best-Dressed list four years in a row and is in the Best-Dressed Hall of Fame.

She is a member of the board of trustees of the New York-based GOOD+ Foundation, a foundation that provides essentials for children of families in need. She supports Ronald McDonald House, which offers assistance to the families of children suffering from life-threatening illnesses, and she is also a member of the board of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, her alma mater.

Bendet is an Advisory Board member at her alma mater’s Baker Retailing Center within its Wharton School.

References

Living people
American women fashion designers
American fashion designers
20th-century American Jews
1978 births
Jewish fashion designers
Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from Chappaqua, New York
Horace Greeley High School alumni
21st-century American Jews
20th-century American women artists
21st-century American women