Trendsetter: Sarah Sulzberger Perpich

Sarah Sulzberger Perpich has been in the fashion industry for over 13 years as a fashion editor, stylist, writer and consultant. She has written for such publications as WWD, V Magazine, The New York Times, Style.com, POP and Diane Pernet’s A Shaded View On Fashion. She has also worked with designer Zac Posen and as a personal shopper at both Bloomingdales and Henri Bendel before becoming a full-time personal stylist. Her ability to make fashion fun and easy for clients of any age, income or lifestyle has made her one of the most sought-after stylists.

What’s hot right now?
Fashion’s latest cycle is really starting to trickle up instead of a one way trickle down effect, and I think that’s exciting. The line that has always separated street style from ready-to-wear is slowly starting to fade. Bloggers, street style, DIY fashion and crowd funding for designers are all influencing and upending the fashion hierarchy. The cross pollination of fashion and art continues—Kathy Grayson’s new gallery The Hole is having its first fashion show and pop-up show during fashion week. It’s no longer about one label, one look, one body or one way, but about diversity and democratizing fashion. There is no longer only one way to be stylish!

What’s the one thing you’d like to change about fashion?
To change the way in which we define beauty—more diversity on the runways, in the magazines, in the campaigns and advertising as well as the women who work in the industry. A day when everyone does not look exactly the same—a cookie cutter-less society. All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is really bringing attention to this issue.

What are you looking forward to in the fall?
I’m excited to see all of the people returning from summer vacation filling up the NYC streets—a feast for my eyes, as my pal Bill C. would say. Nothing beats the excitement, the action, the diversity, the fashion and the sounds of a New York City street in fall. And one of the best places to see it will be at Fashion’s Night Out.

What’s the best style advice can you give a woman?
Nothing is worse than seeing a beautiful stylish woman walking down the street in a pair of heels that she clearly has no idea how to walk in—her awkward, clumsy, goofy strut kills the whole look. Thus my style advice is to never buy shoes that aren’t comfortable, and always take at least one lap around the store to be sure.