Store-ies 15: Moda
A visual archive of Pittsburgh retailers & their stories.
What’s the story behind your career, the journey that has led you to where you are today with Moda?
I started as a part-time salesperson for a local store and by the time I graduated high school I was going to New York and Los Angeles doing the buying. I stayed with them for 13 years and decided to go on my own. Moda opened in 1990 and was one of the more fashionable stores in the city. But not what it would eventually become. A trip to Paris in 1993 changed everything. When I got back to Pittsburgh I had decided to completely change everything and carry more exclusive and harder to get merchandise. The decor, the displays, even the packaging changed. That was the start of a different path that we have tried to stay on ever since.
Benefits and challenges of having a store in Pgh?
I guess the benefits would be the “small pond”.
And the challenges would be the same.
What is one fashion word that you wish people would stop using?
Toss up between athleisure and couture. Athleisure because it’s corny, though I’ve used it myself. And couture because most people don’t know what it actually means.
What's your biggest regret?
Biggest regret.
Canceling our Gucci order.
It’s a long story!
Leather or wool?
Probably wool trimmed with leather!
If you were gifted $10,000 with no strings attached, how would you use it for the shop?
Travel to Europe for “inspiration “.
If you could make a documentary what would it be about?
Probably about my life! I have lots of stories.
Which fashion designer or muse (dead or alive) would you love to collaborate with?
No one famous comes to mind. Though I have had some extremely talented people who have worked here in the last 29 years that I have and would collaborate within a heartbeat.
