Anne Fanganello
It’s Never Too Late to Create Your Perfect Fit
Anne Fanganello had a closet full of clothes, high-end couture straight from the runways of New York, each piece tailored to complement her every curve, but none of it was right for the new life she was building back home in Colorado. In a place where Patagonia tended to be the label of choice, Anne needed more casual options; the problem was finding them in the size 24 she needed at the time. The few options available to her – unappealing with their cheap fabric and poor design – felt insulting, not only because she had spent her entire career creating high-quality garments, but also because Anne LOVED her body. Her body had spent the better part of a decade battling a cancer that could easily have been a death sentence and her gorgeous, miraculous body had won. So no, it wasn’t her body that was making her feel bad, it was her clothes, and it was the clothes that needed to change.
Clothes, and the process of creating them, had been one of Anne’s passions since childhood. By the age of thirteen she was creating her own outfits, starting with a Brooke Shields pattern for palazzo pants that she reconfigured into a pair of mustard yellow shorts with a matching top. Within two years, Anne was working backstage at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, making costumes, and by the time she got to CU Boulder as a freshman, she found herself running the costume department. The role, one she stepped into when her professor became too sick with AIDS to fulfill his functions, forced Anne into the first major pivot point of her young life. A gifted cellist whose hard work and talent had already brought her to Lincoln Center, Anne had gone to Boulder with the intention of majoring in music, but when it became clear she could not pursue both, she made the painful decision to set her cello aside and focus on a career in design. After studying fashion in Florence, Italy, Anne returned, somewhat reluctantly, to Boulder to complete her degree. She loaded up her course schedule, eager to get the requirements over with and get on with establishing herself in the world of fashion. She left for New York as soon as she graduated, accepting an offer from a designer she had interned with during college for a bit of work and enough money to get her started. Those early days, Anne recalls, were like something out of La Boheme – an apartment full of young girls barely scraping by but full of the determination to turn their dreams into reality.
Anne managed to do just that with stunning speed. Following a brief stint at Victoria’s Secret, a role that taught her far more about what she didn’t want than what she did, Anne accepted a bottom-rung position at the high-end fashion label Elizabeth Wayman and quickly began her ascent through the ranks. She discovered her true gifts lay in production, taking a designer’s vision and turning that into wearable reality. Bringing those freshly honed skills into her next role at Nanette Lepore, Anne oversaw exponential growth of the brand. She was just beginning to cast about for her next challenge when, while in the shower, she discovered something that threatened everything: a lump the size of a walnut in her breast.
Within two weeks she was in her first surgery. Beating her cancer into submission would include thirty rounds of chemotherapy so brutal that Anne’s doctor feared she might not survive treatment, but Anne refused to quit. Nor did she slow down for the fight. Even while battling cancer, Anne took on a leadership role with up and coming designer Zac Posen. Professionally, it was the everything she had always wanted, and yet Anne suddenly found herself emotionally floored. The drugs she relied on to stave off the return of her cancer came with a slew of side effects, weight gain and staggering depression among them. The weight didn’t bother her – she knew she was beautiful and strong no matter how she might appear to others – but the medication induced depression got so bad that she finally had to admit that she had to step away from her
17-hour workdays and give herself time to heal.
Wanting to be close to family, and also to rest and ski, Anne returned home to Colorado. She set up a small event planning business (a self-confessed workaholic, leaving the world of work completely was out of the question), Anne was helping to open a new, plus-sized clothing business when the owner commented how much she wished she could find some cute, printed skirts in larger sizes. Anne, who had been keenly aware of the gap in that market in her own life and closet, offered to make them. The skirts she designed sold out immediately, and soon Anne’s event planning business, AnnaFesta, morphed into a customizable clothing label with a cult following. With the right cut and fit, Anne says, every woman can look great and feel confident that her clothes work for her body. AnnaFesta, which started with a plus-sized focus, has since become an inclusive brand designed to flatter all body types. With the addition of FestaSports, an athletic wear division designed to help each and every woman get and stay active, Anne has found her true passion, helping women get healthier in body, mind and spirit with the support of the right clothing so they can feel stronger, prettier and more successful on the court and off.
In life and in fashion, Anne has created a brand and a life that fits her just right.
It is never too late to create your perfect fit.