Charlotte Ronson and Shoshanna Gruss

Last night, at Housing Works’ Editor’s Choice charity shopping event hosted by Allure’s Fashion Director Michael Carl, we had the pleasure of chatting with Charlotte Ronson and Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss about their swimsuit collaboration and a certain NY Times columnist’s opinions about JC Penney. They were both super cool even though we were quite jealous that Shoshanna was sporting the Alexander McQueen clutch of our dreams! (And of our bank accounts nightmares.)

FMMH: So, I wanted to ask you a few questions…

Shoshanna: (looks at our business card and seems a bit wary of our name. Maybe thinks questions will be sexual in nature?)

FMMH: I swear they are all PG-13!

Shoshanna: (laughing) Alright. Alright.

FMMH: I wanted to ask you about your bathing suit line. You both have done bathing suits on your own and now you have Made With Love together…

Shoshanna: Yeah it’s something we kinda kicked around and talked about and it kind of came together quickly…and we started a line together. There is a lot of crossover with our customers too.

FMMH: Is this a one-time collaboration or are you going to continue with this line?

Shoshanna: We just kind of went with it to see how it would go. We had a little more time to plan it and do it the right way.

Charlotte: We finished our second collection!

FMMH: (to Charlotte) Is it going to be sold in your boutique or it a separate project to be sold somewhere else?

Charlotte/Shoshanna: Yeah! Also at Shopbop, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and a lot of small boutiques. A lot of the same places we sell our collections. Which is nice because we get to diversify a little bit.

FMMH: (To Charlotte) So you interned at Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar and Cynthia Rowley. Which was your favorite experience?

Charlotte: Rolling Stone was the first, so I was young and getting coffee was fun. I thought it was a real grown-up job. I mean they all were fun. I worked at Harper’s Bazaar and that’s where I realized I want to get into the design aspect. Then I went to Cynthia Rowley where I was able to get experience and be a little more hands on.

FMMH: So what do you think about the Cintra Wilson debacle? About what she wrote for the NY Times about JC Penney?

Shoshanna: What? I read the NY Times everyday and I haven’t heard about this. What was it?

FMMH: It’s all over The Cut, basically she wrote an article for the NY Times that was very negative about JC Penney and there has been an uproar all over the country of women writing in. She said the mannequins were obese.

Charlotte: When it comes to sizing. I know I fit. Right now I am wearing an I Heart Ronson dress from JC Penney and it’s a small. (Note: Charlotte is very small, so this seems accurate)

FMMH: We just bought a dress of yours and it fits perfectly, so we are happy!!