Background:
Born and raised in St. Louis, Mo., Stephanie Anne has always had a keen interest in world cultures and international design, so when the opportunity arose to move to Miami, Fla., she jumped at the idea of living in a more international city. She earned an Interior Design degree from Florida International University, which culminated in further international exposure through her thesis and time abroad at the American College in London, England.
Early Start and her Continued Career Design Pioneer:
Early Start and her Continued Career Design Pioneer:
Freshly out of college, Stephanie Anne was living and working as a designer in Dallas, Texas when she incorporated her own design company at the age of 25. Her specialty included designing her own line of unique furniture for children. Soon, ‘parents-to-be’ were calling from all over the country for exclusive Stephanie Anne crib designs, bedding and accessories. With a growing affluent clientele, her interior projects, furniture, bed linens and interior accessories were becoming a hot commodity.
In 1996, with the rapid popularity and desire for her children’s furniture designs, she opened her first store, ‘Stephanie Anne Room to Grow,’ in Dallas, Texas, as a showroom for all her distinctive children’s furniture and bedding collections. Nothing like her works had ever been created specifically for children in the industry, keeping in mind that this was years before anything like Pottery Barn Kids existed. From changing tables that converted to dressers to her patented ‘Garden Gate’ crib, Stephanie Anne soon found herself designing rooms for football players’ wives and other celebrities. A true trendsetter, she single handily changed the face of children’s furniture design forever and in 1998 opened a sister store in Houston.
With two premiere boutiques, her brand continued to expand and by 1999 she was distributing the ‘Stephanie Anne Room to Grow’ collections nationwide through her own catalog and website, which was one of the children’s furniture-specific sites to hit the web. By 2001, she had over 50 employees and boasting millions of dollars in sales annually.
As her taste evolved and design expertise grew, Stephanie Anne’s focus expanded to include designing products for the whole home and beyond. Her clients couldn’t get enough, and along with her new designs for additional home accessories came adult apparel, specifically lounge wear. Women quickly made room in their closets for yet another unique Stephanie Anne piece!
To handle her brand’s continued growth, Stephanie Anne moved her boutique to the upscale Highland Park Village Shopping Center in Dallas, where it currently resides alongside neighbors like Hermes, Chanel and Ralph Lauren. This flagship boutique offers the shopper countless options of ever-evolving chic home accessories, jewelry and apparel designed exclusively by Stephanie Anne.
To date, Stephanie Anne currently holds four U.S. design patents and has a resume most designers only dream of. Her collections include over 150 uniquely-designed children’s furniture and interior accessory pieces; over 75 bed linen collections; over 40 women’s lounge wear designs; and countless interior design projects and custom home furnishing designs.
Current Focus:
In 2011, Stephanie Anne made a direct move into the fashion world with the launch of her own high-end jewelry collection, which caught the attention of discriminating retailer Neiman Marcus. Masterfully handmade and sculpted out of bronze, her pieces are hand-dipped in 24k gold, similar to the technique used by jewelry artisans for over a century in Europe. An array of color provided through the use of semi-precious stones, the polished cabochon is her signature along with a 15 plus ‘ways-to-wear-it’ chain. The collection is available in the retailer’s key South Florida stores along with Stephanie Anne’s flagship boutique. Her jewelry collection includes over 50 exclusively designed pieces, and she has only just begun.
When not on the move, Stephanie Anne and her husband, Anthony, divide their time between friends, family and business in Texas, Florida and her home studio in Mexico. Whether she’s listening a courtyard fountain trickle or enjoying the bright array of flowers that envelope a home, Stephanie Anne continues to find inspiration daily, and with their two cats, Star and Bucks, always in tow, life continues to be dreamy.
