Alex Dolan and Natali Germanotta Dolan. Photos By Alex S.
Natali Germanotta Dolan and her husband, Alex Dolan, chatted about being fashion designers and lifestyle entrepreneurs in the digital age.
Walt Disney once said “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” This quote applies to Natali Germanotta Dolan and Alex Dolan.
While Natali may be the younger sister of global entertainment superstar Lady Gaga, she holds her own in the contemporary fashion and lifestyle landscape.
Natali and Alex on how ‘On Stage Essentials’ came to be
On the idea for their company “On Stage Essentials,” Natali said, “The real story of it was that we were in Las Vegas for work, and we saw a real opportunity there.”
“There are so many creatives, artists, talent, and Vegas really deserved a one-stop shop place to find all the products and materials that you would be able to find in L.A. or New York,” Natali noted.
“There wasn’t a particular garment district place there. So, we felt the need to make it happen,” Natali said.
“In regard to how much entertainment and other things that are happening in Las Vegas, we felt that it really deserved to have a little bit more,” Alex said.
“This is why we carry everything… rhinestones, fabrics, trims, bus cuffs, every base and embellishment material that you could imagine,” Natali added.
On the origin of the name ‘On Stage Essentials’
Regarding the origin of the name “On Stage Essentials,” Natali said, “We definitely went around for a long time. Obviously, it had something to do with ‘On Stage,’ because it started mainly for performers and for wardrobe people.”
“We really highlight the essentials component… the essential things that you need, the base building, the rhinestones, the feathers, and basic sewing supplies,” Natali said.
“We really wanted to make a place where you could walk in and walk out with just about everything you need to make something from the ground up,” Alex said.
“So, from start to finish. Plus, the name was available on Instagram,” Alex said with a sweet laugh.
Natali and Alex talk about being entrepreneurs in the digital age
On being fashion and lifestyle entrepreneurs in the digital age, Natali said, “Oh my goodness. It feels amazing, but there are also some challenges, especially for me.”
Alex and Natali continued, “The two of us are perhaps a bit more reserved on our personal social media pages so it has been an adjustment to be more forward speaking.”
Natali said, “Just speaking from a personal place, I’m not great at technology but I’m certainly learning and I want to grow with everything that is developing.”
“There are definitely some challenges,” she admitted. “Alex and I definitely complement each other in that way. He is very tech savvy and detail-oriented in that way. I am a bit impatient with technology, while he is more patient with it and with me.”
Using technology in their daily routines
On their use of technology in their daily routine, Natali said, “We have three businesses now. We have a task manager, which is very important. In the past year or two, that has certainly become more important.”
Alex said, “You sketch in apps such as Procreate on iPad in addition to good old-fashioned pen and paper.”
“I’m also very tactile with my hands,” Natali admitted. “Sometimes, draping and sketching on paper is something that I would like to gravitate back and forth with.”
“Even working between reality and scanning and then doing some digital overlays and whatnot, there is always a way that you can integrate it where it really enhances the project that you are working on,” she elaborated.
Mental health in the digital age
On the importance of mental health in the digital age, Alex said, “It is hard to imagine how difficult it must be, especially as a young person coming up in school these days. I know it was hard enough because we went through school towards the beginning of Facebook and MySpace.”
“So, we had a taste of it, but I think it is so much more all-encompassing now,” Alex noted.
“So, yeah, I definitely recognize that it’s a massive challenge, and definitely something that deserves to be worked on and talked about and now with AI, it has entered a whole new era of opportunities, but also challenges that come along with that,” Alex elaborated.
Natali and Alex on their July launch in Las Vegas
On their July launch in Las Vegas, Natali exclaimed, “That went fantastic! We had a lot of fun, and we met a lot of great people in the community. That was just the beginning for us!”
“Since opening, we’ve added so much more inventory and we’ve heard so much more from the community about what the needs are, what types of products and materials they want, and even what types of services they feel would be nice for us to offer,“ Natali elaborated.
The couple continued, “So, since July, we’ve expanded our inventory and we’ve expanded to building costumes and custom formal wear and doing alterations for customers.”
“These customers are either performers themselves or people that don’t know how to sew and need an alteration done, or people that are looking for a wedding gown or a replica costume for something that they’re volunteering for. Our company has really grown in a very beautiful way,” they acknowledged.
“We are also starting to offer workshops at the store as well, where people can really see us engaging more with the community. So, we just had this holiday workshop last week where we did a custom ornament that was really fun and special,” Natali noted.
“We plan to offer some sewing classes and so many more things in the future,” Natali added.
Advice for young and aspiring fashion designers
For young and emerging fashion designers, Natali said, “Oh my gosh. They should just try everything! To really try everything. You never know what it’s going to lead you to!”
“Even if you’re trying and learning new techniques and skills, and even if you’re not great at it right away, remember that mastery isn’t built overnight,” she underscored.
“It’s something that you’re constantly working towards. You don’t have to be the best at something for it to be of value and to be creative and for it to inform your craft and skill level,” she explained.
“You just want to constantly build your rapport and your skills,” she added.
Stage of their lives
On the title of the current chapter of their lives, they both said in unison, “Natali Alexander.”
“We recently just launched our brand that we’ve been taking up for a long time,” she said. “So, we just launched the first product, which is kind of the steppingstone to a larger, ready to wear brand called Natali Alexander. Also, we just released a scarf named Lumina, which is a silk scarf for the holidays.”
“The vision of the brand is more focused on slow fashion, details and the timelessness of building your closet really similarly to a lot of the designers that inspired me growing up, such as Schiaparelli and Pierre Cardin and Cristóbal Balenciaga, there was always a timelessness that came with what they were creating, and that lives on now, decades later,” she elaborated.
“So really focus on building your closet in a way where you’re curating pieces and details that are of importance to you,” she said.
“So much of the brand focuses on emotion and this immersive experience, which is really something that we learned a lot about ourselves when we were working on tour and being in the costume industry designing all of these different and amazing pieces,” she said.
“We had this opportunity to really immerse ourselves in all aspects from emotion, lighting, choreography, music, to really flex your brain creatively from thing to thing. Also, seeing it unfold at a rapid pace too is a big part of it because in that world, things just move so quickly,” she elaborated.
“The emotion behind ‘Lumina’ is that it looks at first glance like a symmetrical stained-glass image, but when you look closer, it’s mended of all of these broken fragments where no two pieces are alike. It’s really an ode to mended part of you,” she said.
“Each of us is unique in our own way, which is why we made them a limited edition run. There are only 350 units, and they are all unique to us,” she noted.
“This idea of light shining through them has this really emotional component as well, where you can’t know one without the other. You can’t know what it is to be happy without knowing what it is to be sad,” she said.
“So, it’s a really healing piece for me anyway. It has just been so special that we finally got to debut it and share it with everyone,” she added.
Greatest lesson that the fashion industry has taught them
On the greatest lesson that the fashion industry has taught them, Natali said, “To keep flexing and evolving.”
“You can’t always be stuck with tunnel vision with what you’re working on. You really need to see the scope of all aspects of it… from production to fabrics, how it will be used, to the packaging, to how it’s marketed, to how you brand yourself, to how you want it to be integrated into the world and with your consumer,” she elaborated.
“Also, remember that you can’t do everything all at once all the time, which is something that we’ve been working on a lot recently,” she added.
On partnering with Second Wind Media for her Las Vegas launch, Natali exclaimed, “It’s amazing. They are an incredible team and super talented. They helped launch us in such a way that we couldn’t have imagined.”
“We’ve built such great relationships with different people within the costuming community and around. So, they’ve really been an integral part and in our launch for everything, including Natali Alexander as well. It definitely helps to have someone in your corner. They are just really wonderful, and very detail-oriented people.”
“We’re really happy to be working with them,” Natali added.
Joanne Trattoria
Natali spoke about her father, Joe Germanotta’s family restaurant Joanne Trattoria on the Upper West Side and shared some of their favorite holiday traditions.
On their favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions, they shared, “We both love cooking! So, we love to host or get our hands dirty in the kitchen.”
“We’ve always done the ‘Feast of the Seven Fishes’ for Christmas Eve. It was always something that we did. Over the years, it’s always so hard to make seven different dishes,” she said.
“That has always been something that has been really special to me,” she said. “This year, my grandmother (Angelina) recently passed away, and I will definitely be going through her recipe book, and I’ll make something traditional that will remind me of our heritage and a lot of the amazing moments we had.”
While Natali never made her father’s famous “Eggplant Meatballs” herself, she praised the staff at Joanne Trattoria for making them “incredibly delicious.” “All the food at the restaurant at Joanne’s is just so good,” she said.
Speaking of her late grandmother, Natali said, “I’ve always loved her lemon artichoke chicken. She used to make it a lot when I was growing up, and I just loved it! They have that dish at the restaurant.”
“Joanne Trattoria is such an amazing place, and over the past few years, it has grown and evolved exponentially. I love the direction that it is moving in,” she added.
Success
On their definition of the word success, Natali said, “I think success means getting to do what you love without limitations most of the time.
Natali continued, “Alex and I own three businesses, and we work together all the time. The fact that we get to do what we love with the person that we love is really, really specials. I think it’s hard to do better than that.”
“I love the fact that we get to have this really creative life, where you get to always change, evolve, pivot and do things that you love. We also get to spend time with our dog and we get to see our friends,” she elaborated.
Message for their fans and supporters
“Thank you so much for supporting us,” Natali and Alex said. “This has truly been an incredible journey. We feel like it has been a journey already, but at the same time, we are also getting started.”
“The fan support is just profound,” she noted. “We wouldn’t be here without some of the people in our lives that have shown the support for us and helped us in so many ways. Even just a gentle ‘hey, how are you doing today?’… that just speaks volumes for us.”
“It’s definitely reinvigorating to see the energy that people have expressed towards us and what we are doing. That really helps keep us going,” they both said, effusively.
Closing thoughts on the contemporary fashion landscape
For their fans and supporters, Natali and Alex expressed, “We would love to continue to grow and help the Las Vegas entertainment and creative community. We really want it to become a hub of all things creative from people that do things themselves to professional fashion designers to wardrobe people and stylists.”
“It really is a safe space for people too,” Natali underscored. “There is no judgment with what you’re creating, or who you are, or what skill level you have. Our goal isn’t to discourage people… there is a lot of creative freedom.”