NOTABLE NORTHSIDER S
“I realized there are no rules. You don’t have to be at Neiman Marcus for someone to offer you a glass of Champagne.” At first, customers were shocked, assuming price tags were missing a zero. Spinola was surprised, too, as the brand’s success grew beyond herself. “I kept waiting for a place where I’d have to sacrifice something,” she said. Instead, she continues to give. Plenty of Northsiders have been wowed by that experience, but most are still learning the impact their purchases can have. fab’rik recently launched a
special line named for Spinola’s daughter, Asher. These styles benefit Project 82 Kenya, an organization that rescues abandoned children and gives them a home and a family of their own. Sales help to provide a child with basic needs, healthcare and developmental therapy. Back in Atlanta, free fab’rik is working hard to bring feelings of confidence and faith to women who’ve endured the most challenging of circumstances. Through their weekly free sprees and a mobile boutique that travels to safe houses, they are giving deserving ladies (some
escaped victims of sex trafficking, others that have recently lost their jobs), the chance to have their own “Pretty Woman” experience for a $0 price tag. free fab'rik has been overwhelmed by donations of gently used clothing and volunteer hours, and Spinola has countless stories of change as a result. An example was when one girl asked Spinola, "Is this what [beautiful] feels like?" “As you get older, the definition of beauty changes,” Spinola said. “I remember when I was younger, feeling beautiful after I finished a race. I was a marathon runner, and it was that feeling of personal exhaustion – I gave everything.” Her go-to uniform is distressed jeans, an awesome printed top and Moto jacket, and while she’s a firm believer in the power of high, high heels, she said even an amazing dress is no longer enough to pull off the feeling without passion and purpose behind it. “When I serve, I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and I feel that inside beauty, like I have a beautiful soul.” These emotions came to her when she traveled to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and reoccur during trips to Africa every year, where there’s no makeup, but plenty of bugs, sweat and moments of awe. Another popular topic of conversation at dinner parties is Spinola’s 20 chickens that live in a coop in her Buckhead back yard. It’s hard to picture her gathering fresh eggs in heels, but she admittedly has done so while on a conference call. “You only live one time, and I want to get it all done,” she said with a glowing smile. That’s a look that never goes out of style. FOR MORE INFORMATION fabrikstyle.com freefabrik.org PHOTOS COURTESY OF DANA SPINOLA
10 | POINTS NORTH | November 2016