Fashion Advice from Fashion Super Woman Nevena Borissova

When I first discovered Nevena Borissova, I was enamored by her incredible eye for style and successful fashion career. As a fellow Eastern European, Nevena is everything a foreign transplant can and should do in America. Chase the American Dream. Nevena is the stylist, buyer and  brain behind the impeccably curated CURVE boutiques — a self-made business woman in the fashion industry, who  is living the American Dream. She opened her first boutique at only 22 in LA, and fifteen years later, the CURVE brand has expanded to New York, Miami, Sag Harbour and San Francisco, and is set to open the newest CURVE location in Malibu in August. Nevena’s mission to sell style not trends, and her ability to hand-select edgy, cool and innovative designs have made the CURVE boutiques one-of-a kind. Meet the inspiring and super stylish entrepreneur and find out how she manages to have it all.

FashionFiles: You’ve been the owner of the coveted CURVE boutiques for more than a decade, and you rub shoulders with the leaders in the fashion industry. Tell us a little bit about yourself – how did it all start?
Nevena Borissova: “I started working in fashion at a boutique on Melrose in LA when I was 17 (over 20 years ago) and started styling not long after that. I was obsessed with Lori Goldstein and Italian Vogue… I opened CURVE at 22 and the mission has always been to sell style over trends. I love the mix of high and low, vintage and new. When CURVE (for ahead of the …  Not the best name but I was 22 after all and in the 90’s) opened the original idea was to represent and introduce newness, support young talent and be an incubator for the next… It was a winning concept. People, starlets, stylists flocked and embraced. Still pretty much the story today we are just way grown up. We approach our buy with the mentality of a stylist, I like to have a certain amount in my budget to buy novelty and editorial pieces that I don’t even care if I sell, and also have the black crew neck sweater you can find everywhere…”

FF: In the fickle fashion industry, what is the secret behind your success?
NB: “I think it’s because I am still very hands on and able to manage most aspects of CURVE’s business, from the buy to the customer to the merchandising of the stores and the visuals, it’s all stayed very personal to me and a direct expression of what I am currently inspired by. It’s highly curated and I think people respect that inspiration. I am passionate and able to take risks.  We have also been expanding the brand in the last few years – creating our own line A.O.T.C., focusing on killer collaborations and we recently opened a Gallery below our Bond St. store where we will be curating fashion driven exhibitions. I also feel we have a long way to go and many people to reach. Definitely not there yet…”

FF: Where else, besides NYC, LA and Miami, can we expect a CURVE boutique next?
NB: “We are planning our first ‘lifestyle’ store in the Hayden Track district of Los Angeles, opening in 2015 and we are opening Malibu in August of this year. We have a few things that might be in the works after that, but it’s a little too early to talk about it quite yet.”

FF: What was the inspiration behind CURVE Gallery, and where do you want to take it?
NB: “When we took the Bond St store we had a huge subterranean space, and we designed the aesthetic of the store with an art gallery in mind. The concrete floors and industrial details… I originally thought we would turn the basement into a men’s section, but once we got the merchandise I wasn’t crazy in love with it, so we decided to build a gallery instead! We want to find artists and photographers that have a fashion orientation and display works that maybe don’t get seen too often.”

FF: Considering you come from a small, rather unknown country mostly famous for its former Iron Curtain  did you experience any adversity while developing your fashion career? [Ed. Note: Nevena is from Bulgaria, and so am I] 
NB: “I am in Bulgaria as I am writing this actually (:  I have worked thru those insecurities by now in most aspects of my life.  I am a proud American now, living the American dream quite frankly. I do however think because I didn’t grow up with any fashion influence or excess and quite a bit of repression, it left me free to develop the creative, imaginative part of my brain and make up my own rules.”

FF: Do you have any advice for young entrepreneurs trying to make it in fashion?
NB: “Put in the time! Be passionate, go to Paris and train your eye!!  Listen to people you respect in business. The positive before the negative. Measure risks but self doubt kills.”

FF: You are known for your cool, downtown- chic style. Heck, you’ve even been Coveteur’ed! What are your style words to live by?
NB: “Don’t be afraid to try new styles, but always have your own personal filter on it… Confidence carries all you do and wear.”

FF: Who are your style icons? What about favorite designers?
NB: “All women with personal style; I really don’t have one. The list is long… I honestly love all designers from the masters like Chanel, Vionnet, Christobal, YVES, Karl to Nicolas Ghesquiere, Albert Elbaz down to the future masters like Wang and Kane.”

FF: What is the one item that every woman should have in her closet?
NB: “A piece of Chanel, even if it’s a scarf.”

FF: Tell us something about yourself that we might not expect?
NB: “Vegetarian but wear fur );”

Top photo by Leonardo Corredor