Cranston native designs sweaters for 'Mindy Show'

By Pam Schiff
Posted 8/24/16

As they say in the fashion industry, one day you're in, and the next you're out. Cranston resident Elena Leanna is definitely enjoying being in." Actress Mindy Kaling wore three of her designs on the most recent season of the hit Hulu show"

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Cranston native designs sweaters for 'Mindy Show'

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As they say in the fashion industry, one day you’re in, and the next you’re out.

Cranston resident Elena Leanna is definitely enjoying being “in.”

Actress Mindy Kaling wore three of her designs on the most recent season of the hit Hulu show “The Mindy Project.”

Leanna was surprised and excited for the opportunity to work with Salvador Perez, costume designer for “The Mindy Project.”

“I had just started my Instagram account and someone from The Mindy Project’s Writer’s Room sent a note to Mindy Kaling and tagged me in the post,” Leanna said. “It said, ‘Wouldn’t Dr. Lahiri [Kaling’s character] look cute in these?’ So I looked up the costume designer, whom I already greatly admired, Salvador Perez, and found him on Twitter, and I started following him, got to know him better, and then sent him a message with photos of my line. He said he thought they would work with her aesthetic, and called me that day.”

She continued: “He said that Mindy and he are always looking for sweater vests, which is one of her favorite things to wear but hard to find. He chose what he liked and we made them for her to wear.  She reportedly loved them, and we know she wore three, which was more than I had hoped.  The first time she wore one of them, she posted a photo on her social media, and my social media blew up that day.”

The sweaters were in the episodes titled “2 Fast 2 Serious,” “The Greatest Date In The World,” and “There’s No Crying in Softball.”

“The Mindy Project” just started up production again, and Leanna said she remains in touch with Perez. She said she has also corresponded with the costume designer on the Netflix show “Fuller House.”

Growing up in Cranston, Leanna attended Arlington Elementary, Bain and Cranston East.

“I remember, as soon as I could put pen to paper, I would draw clothes. My first drawings were of Marlo Thomas as ‘That Girl,’ I thought she had so much style,” she said.

When she in ninth grade at Cranston East, she traveled to Italy with her a cappella choir group.

“We went to Florence and Rome. It opened my eyes. I loved the ways the girls dressed over there. They wore bohemian men’s tailored jackets over a floral broom skirt. It was so artsy, an effortless style,” she said.

Upon her return to Cranston, Leanna emulated the fashions she coveted from Italy.

“I did my best to dress like that,” she said.

Leanna graduated East in 1980 and entered the Rhode Island School of Design.

“RISD opened doors to freedom and independence for me. I found many like-minded people,” she said.

One month after graduating from RISD, she moved to New York City. She got a job working for a company called Breckenridge.

“I was an assistant designer. It was a foot in the door for me to the fashion industry. I met a lot of good people there, and I learned a lot as well,” she said.

It was during her time at Breckenridge that she met her mentor, Robert Tonner.

“He was the first person to take an interest in me. I appreciated all the support he provided,” she said.

In 1992, Leanna decided it was time to go out on her own.

“I thought it was time to grow up and start my own line,” she said. “Within one year I was in every major department store. The president of Macy's was calling to meet with me. I used to have my sweaters in films and TV shows regularly. My sweaters were worn by Bette Midler in ‘The First Wives Club,’ on ‘The Nanny,’ ‘Fresh Prince,’ ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch,’ worn by Kathie Lee Gifford on her Christmas special. The costume designers just bought them at the Saks store in California. It was a surprise to me every time I saw one on screen.”

In 2007, Leanna was back in Rhode Island working for a private label.

“My sweaters were in Lord & Taylor, Christopher & Banks. I also freelanced for other lines. I was teaching at RISD and Mount Ida College in Massachusetts,” she said.

These days, she owns her own business called Project Fashionworks, where she teaches fashion design to budding designers between eight and 18 years of age.

“My student, Amy Dietz, who just graduated from Parsons and is working in the fashion industry as an assistant designer, interviewed with a portfolio that still had work that she did in my class when she was 16,” she said. “The interviewer told her that the work she did in my class was more professional than anything she did at college.”

By 2013 there was an upsurge of whimsical, novelty sweaters. That led Leanna to re-launch her Elana Carrello line.

Leanna’s dream client would be Hillary Clinton. 

“I would dress her in clean but feminine lines that evoke power and control,” she said.

Working closely with her models is one area Leanna truly enjoys. One of her favorite models is 2015 Miss Rhode Island Allie Curtis.

“I met Allie through Rep. Robert Lancia, at a fundraiser. I just asked her to model and she agreed right away. She’s such a natural model and a lovely person to be around. She’s been a really perfect ‘face’ of the collection,” she said.

In Leanna’s eyes, fashion is more than just shopping at the mall – it truly has an impression and influence on everyone.

“Fashion is always relevant. It’s a huge part of our lives and history. It reflects politics, culture, society, the economy,” she said.

To see Leanna’s designs, visit elanacarellosweaters.com. She can be contacted at elana@elanacarellosweaters.

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