If traditional shopping methods are acting as a source of anxiety this holiday season, the women behind the internet and social media fashion storm known as Luxe & Hazel are ready to help. The brand aims to suit the needs of young, female shoppers while eliminating the process of actually entering a physical store.
“As of September, we have a full online store where everything can be purchased,” said Jennifer Toscano, who jointly founded Luxe & Hazel with friend Kayla Steinberg. “We love doing the pop-up shops too, those have been really beneficial to us. It’s a great way to meet new clients from all different towns.”
Toscano and Steinberg aim to fuse comfort, style and wit to create a line of apparel that appeals to women, primarily in their teens, twenties and thirties, who are seeking trendy casualwear without spending a small fortune.
The independent retailers are able to ensure reasonable prices for quality pieces because of the fact that they do not operate in a traditional manner. Toscano and Steinberg determine the designs, sayings, fonts and colors, which they then have printed on wholesale items ordered in bulk. By not owning a storefront, the business requires no additional employees, no rent payments and no routine maintenance of a space, thus resulting in virtually no overhead.
Their inventory consists primarily of T-shirts, tank tops, hoodies and most recently, upcycled flannels that flaunt images of vintage musical albums and artists.
“In the past few months we just started making custom rock and roll flannels that each have a different music group on the back whether it be The Rolling Stones, The Beatles or Bruce Springsteen,” said Toscano. She and Steinberg add their own creative touch by bleaching and splattering paint on each flannel to produce a unique, one-of-a-kind look.
Other popular items that tend to sell out quickly both online and at pop-up shops are Luxe & Hazel’s signature “Lay-Z” hoodies, and T-shirts that flaunt sayings such as “Champagne + Touchdowns,” “Crunches & Caviar” and “J’adore Spin.”
Though it is technically based out of Long Beach, where Toscano and Steinberg currently reside, the brand has made successful appearances in Roslyn, Rockville Centre, Hewlett, Garden City, Woodbury and more nearby neighborhoods. One of their most recent events took place at Jericho’s Temple Or Elohim, where dozens of shoppers gathered to purchase both holiday presents and products for personal enjoyment from Luxe & Hazel and other local independent vendors.
When Toscano and Steinberg met nearly eight years ago, they never envisioned that that together they would someday launch a thriving fashion brand. Toscano, originally from Rockville Centre, and Steinberg, from Oceanside, began Luxe & Hazel in 2015 as a project aside from their full time jobs.
The idea was conceived when Toscano’s husband planned a brunch for their friends to watch a football game. She and Steinberg felt that creating sweatshirts bearing the slogan “Champagne + Touchdowns” would be a fun way for the women attendance to feel involved in the game, while also looking fashion-forward. The two were met with excited feedback, as their friends were quick to buy the sweatshirts and share photos on social media. Shortly after, women from across Long Island were reaching out to see how they could get one for themselves.
“We started to think this might be a great idea, why don’t we play off of this and try to start our own line with slogans and designs on cozy and comfortable everyday wear?” said Toscano. “After that it kind of took off and social media has been a major help to us.”
The company’s success is largely due to its large Instagram presence, which continues to be on the rise with each passing day. With over 3,500 followers, the page features new products, happy customers and alerts as to when and where future events will be held.
“We always hope that it will keep progressing and keep growing,” said Toscano. “We’re both definitely shocked at how big it’s gotten in just a short period of time. At the moment we’re focused on the winter inventory, but we now have a bunch of big ideas that we want to implement for the spring and summer lines.”
For more information, visit www.luxeandhazel.com and follow their Instagram page @luxeandhazel.
