Her yes to success
Fashion ace Danielle Guizio shoots high and scores fast
She was floored when A-listers Celine Dion and Kris Jenner donned her designs, but Danielle Guizio has never let fashion success be defined by the glitz.
“I was screaming. Like literally threw my phone across the room. Icons,” the New Jersey native told the Daily News a day after her talk with “Your Hometown” podcast host Kevin Burke.
“I guess you do have that a-ha moment of like, ‘Wow, OK, I made it,’ ” said Guizio, 30, whose designs are also worn by Ariana Grande and K-pop group Blackpink.
She says her success began to sink in with her first small office.
“I felt really good about it, but then when we moved on and upgraded this year to a huge office, I think those are moments,” said Guizio, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. “And I was able to fill it with employees and with such a hardworking team. I think it’s really moments like that where I’m like, ‘Holy s--t, I’m living in this dream that I’ve always kind of wanted my whole life.’ I guess it’s just something as simple as that.”
The famous faces — including Hailey Bieber, Dua Lipa, and Priyanka Chopra — sporting her stylish designs “kind of also solidifies and makes me feel good about the pieces that I’m making,” she added. “People are resonating with them.”
Yet seeing Dion and Kris Jenner decked out was something special, Guizio said. “I’m obsessed, obviously,” she laughed.
Though most stars in Guizio’s designs aren’t wearing custom pieces — a good sign for anyone who wants to dress like a celebrity without breaking the bank — she’ll customize upon request, as she’s done for Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid.
She said she’d “die to do custom for Lady Gaga,” who has already fallen under the Guizio spell, and counts Halsey as one of her favorite custom design experiences. Guizio said she designed “a whole entire custom wardrobe” for the artist’s “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour” that ended in 2018.
“It was the first time I’ve ever done anything like that and I just learned so much,” Guizio said. “It was just something I took a leap of faith in.”
Just the prospect of attracting Madonna, Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé to the label helps fuels her work.
“I so badly want her to wear my clothes,” Guizio, who started her business from her parents’ basement and a $400 tax return, said of Queen Bey, who owns and manages the Ivy Park line.
“It’s kind of a fun thing, where I have those goals because I’m so fortunate to have the most amazing models and celebrities wearing my pieces right now,” said Guizio. “So those are a few that haven’t and I really look forward to. I hope that one day I can have them in my clothes.”
Guizio and Burke’s Thursday chat — part of a series highlighting notable New Yorkers, in partnership with the Museum of the City of New York — delved into success and working through the pandemic among other topics. Guizio’s episode will be expanded Tuesday on the “Your Hometown” podcast.