Walking through the valley of death…
I can finally talk about it. So here we’ll go!
When life was going so well and I was so amazed about all the great things accomplished, I decided to take a long vacation to Brazil before getting ready for Fashion Week. But that turned unto a life threatening episode that lead unto 3 years of fight to survive… That indeed was a life-changing experience. I have recently started life over again and I want to share it with the World!
So, I went ti Brazil and spend 3 weeks in a beautiful paradise island. On my way to the next city I spend a night over a place and fall from 14ft high, breaking my skull, injuring my spine, having a serious concussion and a brain injury. Twenty days after that accident, I flew to Rio, where my parents live. I walked unto the wheelchair to travel, since I could not walk up any stairs. But arrived in Rio unable to move out of the wheelchair. The pressure on the brain worse my injury… On the next day I had a seizure and with that came change on my personality, irritability, memory loss, confusion, lack of control over my speech, my actions, my emotions, and everything that could possibly express who I am and what I want. I was unable to process information, I often could not understand what people where saying despite all of my efforts, and my brain was unable to retain any information that would be processed. I am assuming you only read until here if you really really like me or if you also have experienced a brain injury… lol. I had to cancel my flight and stayed in Rio for 6 months doing intensive treatment to go back to my life. What I did not know was that that life has stopped there, with the accident… I came back to New York to get worse. The 12 hours flight didn’t do any good to my brain either. So I arrived here very confused and thou I look OK, I was far from being well. I was very debilitated to walk and it was nearly impossible to walk up the stairs, but I kept on pushing thinking I was going to bit the sickness with perseverance, but it only made me worse and worse… kept on going back and forth to the ER until the day that I had another seizure and became like a vegetable, stuck on bed, unable to step on the floor, and unable to walk at all. I was under an on-going unbearable pain, with dizziness and blurry vision at all times.So I depended on others to feed me, to take me to the hospital and even to push the wheelchair, since I could not even do that on my own… I was finally ready to die, and I have never felt so close to God in my entire life, and on that evening that I asked Him to heal me. On the next day, I woke up well and started to walk. And from there took another 10 months until I was able to walk up the stairs again. And another year until was finally able to function…
I was told by some of my doctors that I was never going to heal and that I was never going to design again, and that I was to live with that. But I refused to believe on them, because I know that God makes miracles. So I changed Doctors and kept on fighting day and night, despite all the odds, and they were many…
The good thing is that I had 3 entire years with myself and with God. And that changed my life for ever…
I learned that no matter what, God is always there for me, and this is amazing to me. I learned that there is always hope, while we are still alive. Even if everything and everyone tells you otherwise. I discover that the brain is elastic, and that it keeps on creating new neural pathways. I learned that the neurons destroyed have neighboring neurons that are able learn how to do the same function even better than the the old neurons. And that gave me a lot of hope, not only heal 100%, but that I was going to be even better on everything I used to be good at. Another great discover is that due to the trauma, and the intensive focus and stimulation that follows after the long period of rest, other parts of the brain that were sleeping woke-up and things that I wasn’t as good at, became amazingly easy to me.
Now I don’t regret for going through all of that. I am not only better on everything I do now, but I am also a better designer, a better friend, a better boss, and a better human and I learned that the beauty of life are on the simplest things. Talking about beauty, I am indeed very excited to share with you all about my new collection on the next post… So Viva la Vitta!
-Isabelle Donola
Isabelle Donola talks about Project Runway ” Under The Gunn”!
New Website Launching!
After several months editing and re-editing the past images,press,etc we finally got it more compact and reflecting the virion that I have for the brand. It was a lot of work, and there are still a few things here and there to improve.
The exciting news are that you can now shop directly from our website using our shopping chart. Only the F/W collection is directly available. All other designs are available upon request.
If you would like to own one of our garments from other collections, or have any question, please inquire at shop@isabelledonolanyc.com
Fall/Winter 13-14. “Irregular Simple Past” by Isabelle Donola
It’s been a while that I have been taking a break. A good decision I’ve made that allowed me to come closer to my senses to be more in touch with others. I fee more alive and genuinely proud with the results produced from this experience. Not making clothing is definitely something I thought about, after some ups and downs. But I came to realize that there are different types of oxygen. My art, called fashion by most people is the oxygen that keep me vibrant!
On my research I was fortunate to comeback and physically be in touch with several places, images and people that are in someway also a part of me.
This collection is the result of a overlook into the past, the future and the present and the fine line that are there in between these stages. Art, culture, music, fashion, it is all there, here or it is past.
The importance of “The Moment” and the translation of the feelings of this lonely search for your inner to to be lost into the past…. It may be just words, or clothing or people, or it may be just you or I. This collection evokes the importance of today in parallel with what make you so special. Aren’t you special or have you just forgotten?
The individuality that is within us is there when you are there. The importance to not neglect your own self and to stay in touch with what have made you whom you are may be the basic principles to bring you in a closer relationship with the world itself.
This collection is here as a bridge in which you and I may fluctuate through style, sharing our personalities, our likes and dislikes, and becoming a clear shell of whom you are.
I hope you enjoy!
IDNYC is preparing to launch in the Brazilian market! IDNYC estara em lojas selecionadas do Brasil em breve!
We are excited to announce that IDNYC will be available in the top Brazilian cities through our outstanding Brazilian team! Our Fall/Winter collection that will be soon launched for New York Fashion week will be the first collection to step on the Brazilian soil. The designer, Isabelle Donola, who was born in Brazil is particular excited about the move!
IDNYC edição limitada estara disponível em nas melhores boutiques do Brazil, tazendo ao cliente brazileiro um air novayorquino…
Peças “ready to wear” com um acabamento e qualidade impecavel! Camisas de seda pura e terninhos de lã Italiana estarão finalmente disponível às mulheres Brasileiras de bom gosto num estilo moderno e sofisticado.
Estilista carioca brilha em NY e L.A., seu nome é Isabelle Donola
My sweet visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil through the eyes of Brazilian photographer Elza Cohen:
Estilista carioca brilha em NY e L.A., seu nome é Isabelle Donola.
FASHION INSPIRED BY PAINTINGS THAT INSPIRE
New York designer and innovator, Isabelle Donola (IDNYC) alongside painter Katherine Clarke Langlands successfully brought ‘The Ladies’, an inspiring collaboration of art and fashion last night to Donola Boutique on Melrose.
With a formula of bold, bright, and mid-shade of colors, varied shapes and lines, and literary passages designed to invoke thought in spectators, Langlands rendered,”The Ladies’. In reaction to feelings invoked by Langlands’ paintings, Isabelle Donola, showcased silhouettes to fashionably retell the stories inspired by the art collection.
Dress inspired by 'The Ladies' art collection, designed by Isabelle Donola
With art, fashion, music, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres the exhibit displayed LA’s capability of having the PERFECT SUMMER NIGHT!
Isabelle Donola NYC_ Spring/Summer: “Green Pastures”
This Collection shown through LA Fashion Week was a designed exclusively for Costella and Donola Boutique. A private and cozy atmosphere reined inside while the Storm would turn that moment even more special…
Green Pastures is inspired on a passage that brings life and tranquility to our minds… The Collection is for the Clients as life in the middle of the desert. The sumptuous colors were meticulous added to bring to life the collection that mainly rested on mid-tones, whites and off-white. The shapes went through minimalist to constructed with an splendid harmony that sets Isabelle Donola beyond for her vision always stand out through her identity.
IDNYC 
Recent Comments