Dara Senders

Exclusive interview with Dara Senders.

I: How did you discover you were artistic?

D:My parents first discovered I had artistic talents when I was at the very early age of three. One Sunday afternoon I had been sitting on the floor of our living room for hours with a very large box of Crayola crayons and a sketch pad. About 45 minutes into my little art session I ran into the kitchen with my sketch pad excited to show my parents what I drew. My parents were happily astounded! How could a three year old draw an entire very detailed fruit bowl still life from memory that included grapes, apples, oranges, and bananas, so utterly well? (I actually found the drawing a little while ago in cleaning and it looked like a 9^th graders work, I had forgotten I had done that at the age of three) Anyway, it was from that moment on my parents knew I was bound to have a life in the arts. For most of my childhood I attended an arts day cap where I took mostly theatre, dance and fine art classes. I loved it, especially my musical theatre classes, which consisted of the camp play and one art I took with a teacher by the name of Mrs. Kelly. She was the best! She truly taught me the fundamentals of art and how to use them at a very young age. And I guess it kind of just stuck with me all these years. That’s also without saying that I have a very talented and artistic Bubbie (which means Grandmother in Yiddish)! Her artistic creations are truly one of a kind and true gallery pieces! At about the age of eight or nine I started to sketch clothing. I always had a huge love for fashion but was now able to put my ideas on paper. As the years went on the more I started to develop a major passion for fashion! This lead me to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City where I studied Fashion Merchandising Management & Product Development; which allowed me to learn the business of fashion and how to design a computer aided collection from start to finish with every production procedure needed.

I love fashion and I don’t think I could ever see myself working in any other field other than musical theatre!

I: How Did you get started?

D: I started Dara Senders New York out of sheer frustration! For so many years I all I ever wanted was the chance to start my own company. While in college it is virtually impossible to start a clothing company; it is enough having multiple classes every day and then coming home to do homework for those classes and then sitting in front of a sewing machine where is could take you weeks to make one garment! I needed to find a way to design something without it being extremely time consuming so I could still do well in school. Well One day when I was fooling around with a broken head band and some ribbon I realized that I could start making hair accessories! It was perfect and did pretty well! After a while, I became very bored and needed something more! I took a break to figure this out for a short period of time. One day as I sat on my mother’s bed looking through a bag of old supplies I came across some jewelry wire and pearls. I started to play around with them and see where it would take me. All of a sudden, about 45 minutes later I had a pearl bangle bracelet. I wore it to school the next day and many of my classmates loved it. So, from that point forward I started experimenting with different kinds of semi-precious stones and fresh water pearls to make different pieces of jewelry. And the rest is history!

I: What do you design?

D: I design very unique handmade jewelry and accessories that can carry a woman from day to evening. I use mostly semi-precious stones such as fresh water pearls, agate, quartz crystal, and Swarovski crystals, just to only name a few. My current collection is fun, flirty, and girly with a splash of elegance and sophistication.

I: What inspires you?

D: I am inspired by unnoticed beauty. The only way I could explain this is the beauty in things that most would think is irregular or un-pretty. For instance, imperfections in material objects or semi-precious stones. I just find it beautiful because it makes it unique where most would find it to be damaged. I am also inspired by the color pink, 1920’s Paris, Shabby chic decor, anything that sparkles such as glitter, crystals, and sequins. Believe it or not candy inspires me. It’s just so pretty, colorful and youthful! I’ m inspired by New York City endlessly, the rain, ruffles, show tunes, and French films!

I: Why people should go to your site?

D: The philosophy of “Dara Senders New York” is for women everywhere to just feel glamorous with a pop of sass, class and fun while wearing a piece of DSNY – Because all women deserve to feel great at all times!

Those who take the time to visit my website will be able to get a better feel of what the DSNY brand is all about. Women feel good when wearing my jewelry. I hear it time and time again how each piece makes them feel special and unique because they know no one else will be wearing something similar!

I: Who is your favorite designer?

D:Well, my all-time favorite designer is most definitely, Mr. Valentino – a true master couturier who will never be replicated! His work is beyond timeless, gorgeous, and embodies such a large amount of class, grace, elegance and sophistication in wearable that is lost in most of today’s mainstream fashion industry!