PARTICIPANTS
Roopal Patel
Luxury fashion directrix Roopal Patel is an experienced insider who has worked with some of the biggest brands and names in fashion and retailing today.
Patel spent more than a decade at the Neiman Marcus Group and its crown jewel, Bergdorf Goodman. At Neiman Marcus, she was the Senior Accessory Market Editor overseeing fashion trend direction for accessories, shoes, and jewelry. As Senior Fashion Director at Bergdorf Goodman, Patel provided trend direction and the overall fashion message for the retailer, including BG magazine, the Very Bergdorf advertising campaigns and the 5f mailers. In addition, she scouted emerging talent, discovering and championing such designers as Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, Derek Lam, Jason Wu, Thakoon, and Eddie Borgo among others.
She also served as Market Editor at Style.com at its launch and at Ralph Lauren's Club Monaco. Most recently, Patel served as Executive Fashion Director at Moda Operandi, a shopping site where you can pre-order items directly from the runway, the site features such brands as Valentino, Phillip Lim, Isabel Marant and Peter Pilotto.
Patel is a trusted source for the media, having been quoted in such publications as the Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, New York magazine, New York Times, Quest, Vogue, Vogue India, Vogue Japan, the Wall Street Journal, WWD and more. She has been included as a source in the books "It's in the Bag: What Purses Reveal -- and Conceal," by Winifred Gallagher and "In Fashion: From Runway to retail, Everything you Need to Know to Break into the Fashion Industry," by Annemarie Iverson. Recognized as well for her personal style, Patel has been featured in Vogue, the Coveteur, Bill Cunningham's "On the Street" in the New York Times and more.
In addition, she has served as a mentor to the designers chosen for the CFDA's Incubator program, working with such designers as Gemma Redux, Christian Cota and Reece Hudson.
Patel earned a degree in marketing from New York University and currently lives in downtown in New York City.