Amanda Kennedy: Founder and CEO of SASSYBAX

Amanda Kennedy is in a league all her own. There is something to be said when Vanessa Williams calls Sassybax's seamless Bralette her new "wardrobe staple" because of the way it smooths her back and how comfortable it is or when Catherine Zeta-Jones reportedly relies on the Sassybax Torso Trim when filming or when mega-mag InStyle calls it 'figure flattery".

Amanda created a new category in bras with the launch of Sassybax in 2004 and stands peerless in the shapewear niche as the solution to a smooth torso and back and the way to look 100% better in your clothes. Her collection is sold at luxe retailers like Lisa Kline in LA (a celebrity hot spot) and Neiman Marcus stores across the country. She has been profiled in Entrepreneur and $1,000,000-aire Blueprints earlier this year, and her collection was featured on The View as must-haves for any wardrobe.

Before founding Sassybax, Amanda worked as a television actress and a psychotherapist, so she brings an interesting perspective on women's views of their body and wardrobe.

Sassybax was created as the result of her own vanity (she was a former Miss Texas), but her success is a result of insight, perseverance and an undeniably well designed product which has helped women the world-over to be happy with their bodies.

Women's Wear Daily donned the collection a "Smooth Operator" this Spring, and 2005's sales volume is expected to triple over last year. Find out why Africa is one of her favorite places to travel, what she's always on the hunt for and the real truth behind balancing out the career and life.

FACTIO MAGAZINE: Describe your signature style.
AMANDA KENNEDY: I like really tight semi-low rise jeans, exotic skin vintage cowboy boots or a chic heel and a classic well cut tunic, cashmere sweater or sexy tee shirt that shows my figure. I wear mostly ethnic or vintage costume jewelry. My bags are big and fabulous because good accessories pull everything together….and I am never without a Sassybax to trim my silhouette.

FM: What are your favorite shops worldwide?
AK: Hermès for leather goods, AG Jeans for their Legend Jean, Lucchese cowboy boots from anywhere, Decades in LA for all that is vintage, Tory Burch in LA on Robertson for her tunics and sweaters, Kenzo in Paris for when I need something unique and more than jeans, and Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills for the newer cutting edge designers like Fuzzi and an unsurpassable shoe department.

FM: Where are some of your favorite places to travel and what do you always pick up for your wardrobe?
AK: My favorite place is Africa because all you need to take are khaki’s, jeans, and tee shirts. Then you can load up your suitcase with all sorts of wonderful jewelry and colorful cotton clothes. In Turkey I found interesting vegetable dyed fabrics that I used to make everything from tunics to tablecloths. I love the islands because they’re all about bathing suits, flip flops and sarongs and there’s nothing to shop for. I am planning trips to China and India where fashion is so different from here. In India, you can find vintage uncut diamonds and emeralds that are set in crude primitive ways or amazingly intricate ways and their embellished fabrics are the most beautiful I have ever seen. The one thing I look for in every country I am in is a beautiful shawl that says something about that country. One of my most prized pieces is a vintage embroidered Spanish shawl that looks like something Queen Victoria would have worn to a bull fight. On my first trip to Paris in 1982, I found a Chanel cape from the 50’s that I still wear today and people stop me on the street to inquire about it.

FM: What are you always on the hunt for?
AK: Anything that makes me smile. And that means something old, new, really inexpensive or a fortune.

FM: What are some of the designer staples we’d find in your closet?
AK: A YSL tuxedo from the 80’s, multiple black Armani pants and a couple great suits, Manolo Blahnik suede boots, Chanel ballet slippers, an Etro coat that looks like Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a black Fendi Spy bag, 56 vintage Pucci scarves, anything Kenzo that was his signature Japanese/French fusion look, (before his retirement in 2000,) Fuzzi mesh skirts and tops, a Michael Kors chocolate brown dress and matching coat, a black velvet Valentino cocktail dress, an Hermes English riding jacket, and a thousand Sassybax.

FM: What women and men (from which city worldwide) have great style and why?
AK: Sienna Miller has great style because she doesn’t let the designers dictate her look. She takes great pieces and makes them her own by the way she puts them together. And she wears the clothes, they don’t wear her. Katherine Hepburn rocked because she wore wide legged pants like no one before her including Coco Chanel. I admire Coco Chanel’s legendary style because it was classic and simple and she never wore real jewelry; she thought it was gauche. Instead she piled on costume pearls and gold, colorful broaches with no pretense of being real and looked better than anyone else. Nicole Kidman never misses on the red carpet and in life she just dresses comfortably and simply to suit herself. She goes from high to low and always looks beautiful. I like Ralph Lauren’s personal style for his commitment to jeans, a tee shirt and a suit jacket, a great belt and a pair of boots. Tom Ford for his perfectly-cut-ultra-modern black uniform. And Giorgio Armani who is a master at making even the most complex designs look simple, favors jeans and black tee shirts and looks amazing. Karl Lagerfeld reminds me of a modern version of King Louie in drag, but somehow because it’s him, it works.

FM: Do you think money and style go hand in hand or can style never be bought? Is it something you just have?
AK: I think style can be learned but you have to work at it like any project. Style can be bought but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. You just have to have a passion for your style and then you can have it.

FM: What does global style mean to you?
AK: My closet! I have things in my wardrobe from many countries in the world. Some of my favorite things are handmade by tribal women in Africa or artisans in Thailand. I like things that are emotionally charged by what they represent to me.

FM: What would people be most surprised to know about you?
AK: That I wear a lot of my things for 10 years or more and would wear it longer if I didn’t change size every decade and that most of my jewelry is not expensive…it just looks it.

FM: Did you know when you founded Sassybax that the company would rise to the success that it has?
AK: No. I just had a need for something that didn’t exist, identified it as a void in the market and filled it. However, I hate failure. My mantra was, “failure is not an option.” This doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes along any path. But mistakes are only mistakes if you don’t pick yourself up and dust yourself off….and quickly.

FM: What business advice and inspiration can you give to entrepreneurs?
AK: Trust your own instincts. Take advice from carefully chosen sources. Be prepared for rejection and the hardest work you have ever done. Never quit. Dreams come true.

FM: What tips would you give women and men in general to be well rounded, balancing out life and business?
AK: Give up on the idea that life will be well rounded or balanced for the first two to three years. It won’t. You can enjoy the success along the way but there won’t be as much time spent doing that as pushing the rock up the hill. Make time for God, friends and family in every day even if it’s 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening. But, remember that the foundation of your company is you. Until you pour a solid foundation on which to build your company, you will live, breath and eat your business. Once you have achieved a certain level of success however, take some mini vacations (long weekends) to rejuvenate yourself with the people you love.

FM: Where do you see the brand and yourself in five years?
AK: I see Sassybax as the global leader in innovative intimate apparel. The key word here is innovative. I never want to produce more of what’s already in the market place. All my products strive to be original on some note.

For more information, please visit www.sassybax.com.