For France-born Nathalie Doucet, good fashion may well be a birthright. The former designer and design professor, who moved from Paris to the U.S. more than a decade ago, is president of the Arts of Fashion Foundation, which she founded in 2001. The primary focus of the nonprofit is to support creativity and design in fashion, a goal achieved through educational programs, an annual design competition and Doucet’s campaign to establish a fashion copyright law to protect the work of designers. This month, Doucet launches investfashion.com, a website that will annually assist a handful of up-and-coming designers in need of financial sponsorship.

Fill in the blank: I never leave home without…
Chanel No. 18, my iPhone and my Mikli glasses. Mikli has always been part of my style, but now [the glasses] are more of a necessity.

What local designer(s) should we be filling our closets with right now?
Oakland-based Amy Sarabi [a contestant on Project Runway’s season seven] and Chelsea Snyder.

What’s the one thing you’ll be buying for fall?
I have two: The black wool dress from Natallia Pilipenka’s last collection and the gray printed silk dress from Douglas Reker.