W Hotels has announced that it’s about to hire its first Fashion Director. Word on the street is that it’s stylist Amanda Ross. A formal announcement will be made on February 11, during Fashion Week.
Ross has worked for designers like Elie Tahari and Dennis Basso and was the style consultant on the set of NBC’s short-lived Brooke Shields vehicle, Lipstick Jungle. Ross will consult on everything from staff uniforms to special retail collections, to the design of guest rooms and common spaces.
Apparently, the search to fill the newly created position took two years. I think the W, which is part of Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide, missed out on a valuable reality television opportunity. Can’t you just see hundreds of hotel stylist-hopefuls tearing up as they recount lifelong dreams of picking out monogrammed bathrobes?
Ross isn’t the W’s first resident expert. This fall, the company hired its inaugural Music Director, Michaelangelo L’Acqua, a former music director for Gucci and fashion show producer. The appointment of L’Acqua and Ross makes me wonder what’s next for the W. Perhaps a resident choreographer? It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good hotel lobby dance number. And I won’t even start on the television possibilities.
