A Flair for Fashion

Among her many charming traits — including her cheery and effervescent personality — is her canny ability to tie together unique pieces in wholly unexpected ways. In fact, her mother once found her wearing the living room curtains in a moment reminiscent of Scarlet O’Hara’s brocade drapes in “Gone With the Wind.”

“I’ve always had a love for books, film, fashion, and arts. This came together in a whirlwind, tornado of a thing,” said Ingersoll, who grew up on a remote farm in Canada. “I ripped the curtains off the windows to create outfits. Then I started saving my allowance to buy fabric so that I could make even more clothes. We lived in the middle of nowhere so I had to keep myself entertained.”

Ingersoll spent her childhood designing, crafting, and creating. Never one to turn away from a challenge, she even figured out how to modify a pair of heels. “My mom wouldn’t let me buy high heels so I made them for myself,” she said. “I used my brother’s train track set and a hay bail rope and I nailed it onto a wooden train hill to create a heel.”

This pull to the fashion world led her to her first job at 15 years old — which she found by coldcalling modeling agencies from the phone book before finding one in need of a front desk assistant. The job turned quickly to one of those “right time, right place” situations when the agency came up short staffed for a fashion show and put Ingersoll backstage to dress the models. This, she knew, was her calling.

After college, where she studied English and French, Ingersoll spent time working for modeling agent Janet Chute. But it was only a matter of time before she set her sights on something bigger. “I turned down two jobs in NYC and bought a one way ticket to Paris where I took a three month course in fashion merchandising,” she explained. “Through that program, I was able to pass out my resumé to every PR house I came in contact with. Naf-Naf was my first internship. When they showed me my desk, I was confused. Where are the clothes, I wondered. What I later realized was that I had put the word for stylist on my resumé, but it also meant designer so I was expected to provide five drawings by the end of the day.”