Cherry Velvet fans will recognize Leah Paley Tuttle from our website and social media – recently, she’s modelled our Marlene and Angelina dresses. What you may not know is that Leah is our sales agent and has been for nearly 12 years! She knows the brand inside and out, so she was the perfect choice to join the team as our new Marketing Manager. We wanted to give you a closer look at this beautiful, accomplished woman, and tell you about the origins of her endless enthusiasm for this industry.
Leah has a secret obsession that began at three years old: Barbie walked into her life and opened the creative floodgates to inspire a career in fashion. With coloured Kleenex, tape, scissors, and some fabric remnants, a fantastic wardrobe of endless possibilities could be created. Barbie had her choice between fur, sequins, cowboy boots, a wedding dress, or a ski suit, and the dramas could then play out accordingly. As a young girl, Leah’s mind was allowed to be free and limitless, and this freedom captivated her.
A passion for fashion set the course for Leah’s career. She’s worked with designers, artists, retailers, and wholesalers, as a buyer, as a stylist, and as a personal dresser. Every day, she finds new delight in seeing the new clothes she gets to work with – to be honest, the only thing that has changed over the years is the size of her Barbies!
Leah is a multitalented woman. Sales and marketing are her forte, but she's also a chef, and cultivates organic botanicals for her own skincare line, Wildcraft Organics.
Now that Leah has joined the Cherry Velvet team, she’s been discovering more and more similarities with Diane, our designer. Aside from red hair and green eyes, and their passion for fashion and cosmetics, both ladies have a love of organic gardening. They are a pair of tea drinkers, and currently sharing organic "Tranquility Tea" that Leah made from lavender, lemon balm, calendula, and camomile from her garden. Diane and Leah have similar tastes in movies and books, and appropriately enough for the Halloween season, they’re both currently reading The Witching Hour and sequel Lasher; horror classics by Anne Rice. Around the office, you’ll often hear one or the other exclaiming to each other, “Oh, yeah – me, too!"
Leah's favourite Cherry Velvet style is the Norma dress, and she's excited about the vintage travel poster print that's already arrived for our spring collection. Now that she’s part of the team, we’re excited that Leah is here to help us bring this dress and many, many more to you!
XOX Cherry Velvet