Pillow Talk with Amanda Ross

In this era when jobs are far from plentiful, it’s nice to know that the hospitality business is actually whipping up a few brand new ones. Thus the recent installation of fashion stylist Amanda Ross (she’s the one who dressed Vera Farmiga in the lovely-yet-polarizing Marchesa Oscar gown) as W Hotels’ first-ever “global fashion director.”

We couldn’t help but wonder: what does it mean to be a fashion director of a hotel chain? “I’ll be introducing W Hotels to the designers and members of the fashion community that make sense for the brand,” she tells us. While some of those designers may be pressed into service on behalf of the hotel’s “Global Glam” fashion collection, others might be asked to design exclusive items for the hotel stores. Naturally, Ross will also weighing in on staff uniforms and helping accessorize the lobbies (tricking them out with really nice lamps and tchotchkes and such). As the company expands at quite a rollicking rate—with nine new ones opening this year alone—there’s lots to do.

For sure, the juiciest item on Ross’s to-do list will be zipping around to visit all the different locations, including the yet to be built ones in Paris, St. Petersburg and Vieques Island. “I have a log of hotels that I need to get to this year. That’s a part of my job that I absolutely love. Someone asked me if I was happy to be home from Barcelona, and I said, ‘Actually, no.’ “

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