Buckhead’s Ivy Showroom reflects the fashion experience of stylist-turned-entrepreneur Fiskani Kaira.
Tucked away in the heart of Buckhead is a fashionistas’ dream, a style hub filled with dreamy wall-to-wall designer looks from all over the world. It’s called The Ivy Showroom, and in the know Atlantans and celebrities flock there to rent one of owner Fiskani Kaira’s one-of-a-kind finds for special events and appearances.
The Zambian-born style entrepreneur has always had an eye for fashion. She first fell in love with it when she was a kid playing in her mother’s clothes and swapping the ensembles on her Barbie dolls. Growing up between New Jersey and Zambia, Kaira also developed a fascination for music videos, mainly because of the clothes. “I was glued to the TV,” she says. “We would go to our local Blockbuster every weekend. They had them in Africa, and I would always go to the musicals, like concerts. I looked at the tapes for the clothes.”
She was intrigued by the rental system, too. “I was like, ‘This is so cool. People come in and rent these tapes and go back. Interesting,’” Kaira says. That idea later set the stage for her showroom.
Kaira attended boarding school, then the University of Louisville. She was a finance major and thought she’d end up in business, but her passion for fashion remained. A trip to Atlanta in the early 2000s sparked a career shift. She was visiting her older sister, and a friend invited her to a music video set. When she got a peek behind the scenes, she was immediately taken with the duties of the stylist. It was her first time hearing the term, and she wanted to know more.
“I never knew I had the opportunity to be on set,” Kaira says. “And you’re telling me there’s someone that dresses people? That’s the job I want.” From there, she started telling people she was a stylist. She took a trip to the annual MAGIC fashion tradeshow in Las Vegas to network and made a connection with an owner of a fur coat company.
Although he wanted her to be a model, she asked if she could sell the coats, too. Going to stores to do that led to a meeting with R&B artist Keith Sweat and later singer Akon, who became her first celebrity client. Kaira went on to style Akon on music videos, for the Grammys and in collabs with Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and more. She traveled the world with Akon. “I did it for 10 years and it was nonstop,” Kaira says. “It was amazing.”
She pulled clothes for clients from showrooms mainly in LA and New York, but it was challenging because she was based in Atlanta. After a negative experience at a pretentious New York showroom that left her in tears, she decided to start her own business in Atlanta.
In 2015, The Ivy Showroom was born. Her goal: to “service icons and everyday icons,” she says. Starting with just a small room, the showroom has grown to 12,000 square feet, and she travels around the world sourcing looks from designers such Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Christian Dior, Chanel and Balmain. “It’s a rental house, just like Blockbuster,” she says.
Clients have to be members to rent from the showroom, and they pay to borrow pieces individually. “It’s a premium price point,” she says. “It’s fashion. It’s an expensive sport. It’s couture pieces.” The Ivy Showroom isn’t just a showroom. For Kaira, it’s the manifestation of a dream she’s carried since childhood.
THE IVY SHOWROOM
fiskanistyle.com/the-ivy-showroom
@theivyshowroom
STORY: Brandi Fowler
