ABOUT: Trovata

About Trovata: Founded in 2001 by four friends John Whitledge, Josia Lamberto-Egan, Jeff Halmos and Sam Shipley, Trovata had become what DNR had described as a "hot new label." Whitledge and Halmos whom were childhood friends eventually met their future business mates, Shipley and Lamberto-Egan to create one of the best new emerging fashion labels of 2002. At the time, Trovata was still being run out of Halmos' fathers office in Florida, eventually moving to their new headquarters in Newport Beach, California in January of 2003. During this time, the world would experience Trovata in a more traditional way, on the runway. In 2005, Trovata had become such a success, that they were awarded not only the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award, but also the CFDA’s Swarovski Perry Ellis award for menswear, and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, which had endowed them with a grant of $200,000. In Summer of 2006, Lamberto-Egan unfortunately had left the company over creative differences, eventually causing Shipley and Halmos to leave as well during December of 2006. With Trovata no longer being run by the inspiring quartet, it is still being operated presently by Whitledge, who is now Trovata's president and creative director. Whitledge as Trovata's new president has plans to expand Trovata, and has hopes in creating the first Trovata stand alone retail store.

Where To Buy: Trovata (trovata.com; tel: +1 800 671 5011), Barneys New York (barneys.com; 660 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10021; tel: +1 212 826 8900), eLuxury (eluxury.com; tel: +1 877 890 7171), Standard Style (standardstyle.com; tel: +1 888 685 4464), Azalea Online (azaleaonline.com; tel: +1 866 344 7231), BlueBee (bluebee.com; tel: +1 866 258 3233).