Homecoming for fashion maven

Stephens alumna and yoga devotee Anne Appleby breathed in and breathed out, and in the process she made people look good.

By GILLIAN WONG

February 2, 2003

Little did Anne E. Appleby know fourteen years ago when she reluctantly agreed to accompany a friend to a yoga class that it would change her life so dramatically.

“I didn’t think I’d like yoga, but then I found that I was addicted to it,” she said.

It turned out to be no ordinary addiction. Yoga led Appleby to found a line of clothing called Yoga Force that has been sold to 150 stores nationwide, including Macy’s West, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Fred Segal.

Appleby’s clothes have been featured in more than 40 television shows and movies, including “Sex and the City,” “Dharma and Greg,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “True Lies” and “Save the Last Dance.”

On Saturday, the 1981 Stephens College graduate wrapped up a week of critiquing the work of an active-sportswear design class at her alma mater and speaking about how she started her business.

When she was in her late 20s, Appleby began working at Paramount Pictures as a liaison between the legal and marketing departments, in what she describes as a job of “policing the marketing department.”

“I didn’t like policing,” Appleby said. “I like creative work, and marketing.”

It was at Paramount that she was asked by a friend to join a lunchtime yoga class.

“So I’m looking around at the yoga class, which is getting bigger and bigger and nobody knows what to wear,” she said. “I decided to myself that there was a niche for yoga clothing.”

Working out of her condominium in Los Angeles, she created a logo and brand and designed her clothing in October 1995. The clothes were on the racks by December of that year.

Appleby’s story has been an inspiration to many of the students who met her at Stephens College this week.

Erica Byrd, a 19-year-old fashion marketing and management major, said she dreams of working for a big brand as a fashion director or buyer.

“Anne not only made me want to think about doing a business on my own, she’s even made me want to do yoga,” Byrd said.

Kathryn Miley, 21, also a fashion marketing and management major, said Appleby’s story is inspiring her to pursue her dream of having her own company that designs and manufactures clothing for the entertainment industry.

“I have my own ideas, and I’d like one day to have a design team to put them out into clothing, kind of like what Appleby has accomplished,” she said.

Despite her success, Appleby isn’t resting on her laurels and said she’s constantly marketing her brand to gain more exposure. For now, she’s looking to sell Yoga Force because it’s getting too massive for one person.

“It’ll be great if a big company buys my brand, but it will always be my baby,” she said.