Donna Saslove And Simon Lugassy - JO LEE Magazine

EXCLUSIVE
Jo Lee Talks To The Power Couple:
The Incomparable Two!
Donna Saslove And Simon Lugassy
By Josephina Lea Mascioli Mansell
I first came to know The Two –
in August of 2010 when I was
desperately gownless for JO LEE
Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Black-
Tie Dinner to be held four months to
the day! Milano, New York, Munich,
San Francisco, Montreal, Ottawa,
Toronto, nowhere could there be
found the ball gown envisioned in
dreams!
It was a beautiful morning as I gazed
through my window onto the waters
of Lake Ontario, and whatever made
me think of an online search for the
impossible – only the universe knew.
I keyed in the designer label. It led
me to but one possibility within
the entire city of Toronto. Can you
imagine? A boutique, seven minutes
from my Fairmont Royal York Hotel
residence! I placed the call, spoke
with the incredible voice of Johanna,
made an appointment for the coming
week and the rest became history.
Donna and Simon clasped me within
their wings and over the next few
months transformed my exact dream
into reality!
Now, that’s power! This couple – this
rare breed of innovative intelligence
that built a retail fantasy where
originality and power prevail.
Miami to Toronto! It was only a few
years ago, well, back in 1985, when
Donna and Simon and big business
and big moguls were creating power
from original thinking and inventing
the niche so obvious that a cuttingedge
Toronto boutique known first
as F/X, and now as Original, would
soar.
Donna and Simon’s Original at 515
Queen Street West – is breathtaking!
As one enters through the tall, glass
doors – elegance, a maze of high-end
to funky shoes and designer bags,
hose, and jewelry engulf you. As
for the burgundy, roped-off, circular
stairway that leads to some 5,000
gowns and original dresses, well – it
becomes a phenomenon of its very
own.
Amongst this wonder, I stood, with
Donna and Johanna trying and
trying to ziiiiiip up
the dress of my dreams. “There,”
they said. “We’ve done it!” Perched
like a mannequin I said, “But I
can’t breathe!” And the dress was
transformed to flow {as only my
father used to say} like The Duchess
Jo Lee.
Jo Lee Power 2011 21