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CNN Live At Daybreak

15-Year-Old Next Hot Fashion Designer

Aired September 03, 2001 - 08:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, move over Calvin Klein, watch out Donna Karan, there's a new young fashion designer on the rise.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. A 15-year-old is living her dream with the launch of her own clothing line and planning her future in the industry.

CNN's Jason Carroll has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Long before he hit the runways, Ralph Lauren designed baseball jackets while still in high school.

Before Betsy Johnson was turning cartwheels, she made costumes for dance school.

To find fashion's next "it" designer, we headed off the runway to the home of this 15-year-old. Meet Jessie Della Femina. Between school work, she's planning her work as a fashion designer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love this.

JESSIE DELLA FEMINA, DESIGNER: I didn't actually start making clothes until I was in fifth grade.

CARROLL: Fifth grade?

FEMINA: When I was, what, 11, 12.

CARROLL: Jessie has come a long way since her pre teen sketches.

FEMINA: Like, I like it low on the hip.

CARROLL: Jessie launched her first collection last summer. She was 14. Each season's line has landed at Henri Bendel's on 5th Avenue, and hasn't lasted long on the racks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We really sold down. We really don't have much left.

CARROLL: More is on the way. Jessie is developing her spring 2002 line. It's all about color and sophistication. Sophistication? From a 15-year-old?

FEMINA: It's a lot of fun with this tiny, tiny, tiny stretch mini skirt.

CARROLL (on camera): Wait, this is a skirt? I thought this was like a little top or something.

FEMINA: A top? No. It's a really short, low-slung, fun little skirt.

CARROLL (voice-over): She has humor and lots of press. "Cosmo Girl" magazine selected her as one of its 10 girls of the year, not just for her designs.

Jessie's an A student at Spence, a prestigious Manhattan private school, where she also works for the paper.

FEMINA: In your favorite color, Spencer.

CARROLL: She also volunteers, at summer camp.

FEMINA: If I have a weekend just to relaxed, I'm lost. I'm completely all over the place. This is good, it like -- it structures me.

JUDITH LICHT, JESSIE'S MOTHER: She is a very quick study, and she knows kind of what she wants.

CARROLL: Jessie's mom is Judith Licht, a New York TV fashion correspondent. Dad is famed advertising guru and restaurateur, Jerry Della Femina. Both concede, their success has open some doors for Jessie.

JERRY DELLA FEMINA, JESSIE'S DAD: In the end, if she didn't have any talent, it would be meaningless for her. The fact is, I am working very, very hard so that one day people will look at me and say, are you really Jessie Della Femina's father?

FEMINA: I try not to take anything for granted. Because, I think that I'm lucky because I get to be able to do what I really love.

CARROLL: Jessie hopes her love will take her to the international runways. Until then, high school will do.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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