Photo: Alice + Olivia

Ever wonder what a designer does all day? If you start at 4:30 AM, you can certainly squeeze in a lot. Check out how Stacey Bendet, the founder and designer behind Alice + Olivia, juggles shoes, sketching, babies and breast milk all in a days work.

4:30AM

9-5 doesn’t totally work for moi. Couldn’t stop thinking about spring shoes so spent a half hour going through my line sheets and leather swatches and playing with colors. Then I did 45 minutes of Ashtanga yoga until my daughter Scarlet woke up. I breast fed her and we fell asleep together in bed. My other daughter Eloise started screaming that she wanted her pink scooter at 6 am. I ignored this and she fortunately fell back to sleep until

6:45 AM

when she wanted a chocolate croissant. Scarlet and I went and got her out of the crib and we all went downstairs to Le Pain Quotidien. We came back upstairs and the baby nurse took Scarlet while Eloise and I covered her scooter in scratch and sniff stickers.

7:45AM

Eloise’s nanny comes and I quickly throw on my usual 18 layers of clothes (two tank tops and a big chunky sweater for this heinous gloomy cold rain…and fun black and white striped shorts and platform army-esque boots and a red head scarf). I run to Starbucks for a tea and head up to office. There is construction and I am talking on my pink Moshi phone and the police traffic woman starts yelling at me to run faster across the street. My platforms, pylones umbrella, and breast feeding boobs make this a bit of a challenge but I attempt. Grab taxi and on my way! Morning taxi calls, hi to my partner Andrew, wake up my sis and the rest of her house, and hi to Dad!

8:30AM

I work on design for the day—we are doing a super fun print collaboration with Gene Meyer and recoloring a bunch of his vintage scarves. I could spend all day on this but I have to also finish our resort line so I am sorting through sketches and re-sketching some bodies that I want to add into the current collection. Obsessed with bold colors mixed with black and white and fun fresh prints!

10AM

I have to pump!  Yes, I do this at my desk and send the breast milk home.

10:30AM

We have our morning design meeting and review samples that our factory finished over the weekend. There is an amazing long skirt that I wish I could wear now!

11:30AM

I have a shoe meeting to discuss comments and corrections for our resort shoes and to review materials for our spring shoes. It’s sort of like arts + crafts collages, playing with leather swatches and colors, and mixing different leathers and suedes. I love it! I change some materials we are using because they suddenly look a bit too 80s for me.

12PM

Discussing outfits for Hilary Rhoda to wear to a benefit tonight with my in house stylist. We are thinking white as requested by her cutie boyfriend Sean Avery.

12:30PM

Fittings start, we are fitting styles for pre-fall and fall. Sometimes I want to cry when I see how the factories have interpreted some of our pattern and fit notes. But this is one of the most important parts of my job because no matter how pretty a dress or pant is, it has to fit!

2PM

Call with husband to figure out the travel schedule for our mini army going to Malibu over Memorial Day.

2:30PM

Trying to find a blue Moshi phone for Vito Schnabel to give to his dad. He loved my pink one when we visited his studio over the weekend. We bought an amazing Dustin Yellin sculpture/scene called “Nativity” for our LA house!

3PM

Meeting to review furniture and interior design of our new Southampton and Manhasset stores! So excited about both!  I abort on a chair that looks like something out of the Barbie dream house and decide to cover our register base in this amazing snake-like leather I am using for shoes!

5PM

Head home to get ready for Ronald McDonald House event tonight, have conference call about BENT ON LEARNING benefit on way home. The guest list is amazing so far, lots of fun celebrities and friends coming out to support yoga for kids in public schools!  Thinking of what to wear with my porn star-esque breast feeding boobs. My white beaded dress suddenly seems like a bad idea. I opt for a long sexy black lace slip dress.

6PM

Eloise is sitting on my lap while I get hair and makeup done until she digs her fingers into a beautiful MAC cream blush, at which time I suggest that she take a little makeover break and try Dora the Explorer with Daddy.

7PM

Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser with Terry + Tina Lundgren. I love them and I am inspired by all of the amazing work they both do! They are also the only two people who can get my butt uptown on a rainy Monday night!