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Fresh off a runway show held last weekend at the popular-yet-brutally hot Coachella music festival in California, designer Nanette Lepore definitely has warmer weather on the brain.

Lepore brings that summer vibe to Raleigh this weekend for a personal appearance at Saks Fifth Avenue on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Lepore will meet with fans, offer styling advice and unveil new pieces for spring and summer during a trunk show and fashion show, which takes place at 1 p.m.

Lepore says her spring and summer line draws inspiration from her favorite laid-back beach locales.

“I was inspired by a general mood of happiness and optimism and the beach,” she says. “More specifically, Los Angeles and the coast of France – it was the merging of my two favorite places to create a scarfy, relaxed vibe. I love the idea of the movement and the breeziness of it.”

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During the Coachella show, Lepore’s teenage daughter, Violet, served once again as a model for her mother’s clothes. Violet also walked in the designer’s last two New York Fashion Week shows.

“She always came out on the runway with me, so I felt like it was time for her to be on the runway, but in a different way,” says Lepore. “She was so poised, and I thought she must’ve been really studying these models when she was a little girl. It’s really fun for us.”

As a mom, and a lifelong lover of bicycling, Lepore is doubly excited to participate in the Saks event, as it will benefit the Triangle Spokes Group, which raises money for new bicycles and helmets for children in the Triangle area. Saks and the designer will contribute 10 percent of sales during the event to the group.

“I feel like I’m lucky to be able to make a difference, and I like to be involved,” she says. “I’m really excited about this charity because I know it donates bikes to needy children. As a teenager I never drove, and a bike was my main way of transportation.”

Lepore also is excited to meet with her customers here in the Triangle. The Nanette Lepore brand is one of Saks’ top sellers in this area, which the designer attributes to a shared style philosophy.

“I think that Southern women like to dress, and they like color,” she says. “I think my true woman is a Southern woman. I love to dress up for every occasion, even just going out to the store. And in the South, people are very friendly and it’s a fun and activity-driven lifestyle, so I think Southern people relate to my love of color and desire to really dress.”

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