Pilar Chira Steinborn: Greenwich Designer Creates Fashion Forward Maternity Clothes

Pilar Chira Steinborn Greenwich Designer Creates Fashion Forward Maternity Clothes
As a celebrity stylist for the television network VH-1, Pilar Chira Steinborn has dressed divas and rockers for the red carpet and beyond.

The Greenwich native's job involves tons of shopping, regular access to designer showrooms, incredible discounts and the chance to put beautiful clothes on famous people.

It was a dream gig, and one she excelled at, until Steinborn was asked by her friend, Elyse Zaccaro, a top network executive, to help her hunt for some professional maternity clothes.

"I'm good at putting real clothes on real people," says Steinborn, whose favorite clients include Ellen DeGeneres and Kid Rock. "But when I started trying to pull together a wardrobe for Elyse, I was stumped."

The problem wasn't a shortage of maternity clothes. These days there are plenty around that don't sport those ridiculous belly bows and giant stomach panels of yesteryear.

What Steinborn had trouble finding, even in the poshest maternity boutiques, were pieces that worked for Zaccaro's high-level position.

Zaccaro's needs included: well-tailored power suits and pants, skirts, jackets and blouses that had the polish needed for business meetings with celebrities and executives. For evenings, she needed feminine, but reasonably conservative, things to wear to the formal functions her job often required her to attend.