Point of View ’Feminine CHIC’ is designer L.A. (Leigh Anne) Teal’s point of view…

Review As a review recently described her, knowing L.A. and her incredible edgy and feminine hats as follows. It’s not how many breaths in a lifetime that you take, it’s how many breaths you take away… And that is what her hats do: Take your breath away.

American born designer Of French and Norwegian immigrants, she had been designing for years and put off the launch of her company until she safely saw her 2 children, son J.P. and daughter Kiersten, graduate from college this past year. Her son is a Providence, RI entrepreneur and her daughter continues her studies in Miami soon to become a Physician of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.

M.S. Degree Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute by the age of 25 From the boardroom, to the design room. After marriage and kids when her children were babies she would lie them down on the Washington Post and trace their little bodies while they kicked and played. From there she would sketch her design around the baby’s silhouette.

She was discovered by a friend of a fashion executive in the Washington, DC area and subsequently designed a fashion show for six little peepers and took the show to the executive suites on F Street of the Hecht company. The Vice President of creative merchandising arranged for the children buyers to be there. They went crazy over the knickers, ponchos, suspenders and really fun kid stuff. On the spot she was offered her label to be put into four of their top stores.

There was one problem… Leigh Anne was a military wife. She was married to a young military officer and he had already shipped out for the new assignment and she was left to move the house and kids within the next three to four weeks.

People thought she needed to have her head examined for turning it down, but she put her children and family ahead of her design career. She worked as an adjunct professor of business and always had design jobs on the side to include having her custom hatboxes shipped for a Victoria Magazine magazine shoot. With moving 17 times there was little time to focus on anything but the important thing, the family. She told her self she would always have her talents and someday when they were grown, she would have her chance…

The kids are grown her atelier, her bungalow, and her two dogs welsh Corgi-Olivia and Yorkie-Manhattan are firmly grounded in Mystic, Connecticut where her designs come to life. It’s a fabulous train ride to Manhattan, where she can be found sourcing on a regular basis.

Natural Talent/And European training with hat makers in Italy and Switzerland, her love of art, South American and European travel absorbing cultures, textures, style, color and ethnic influence all play a part in the essence of her designs.