Last week we held an ‘Open Call’ for jewelry and accessory designers.   We had a pretty big turnout and found some great local talent.  Here are a few of the designers that we liked and thought we would leave the rest up to you to decide who we should carry.  Please vote on which we should carry at SA VA.

The rules: You tell us which jewelry designer we should carry in the store.  Comment below with the name of the brand to cast your vote, only one vote per person.  Voting will be open for 4 days. (Tuesday, September 7th – Friday, September 10th)   The winner’s brand will be carried at SA VA this fall.

DESIGNER #1: Endless Jewels

The Endless Jewels collection, handcrafted in the Philadelphia area, with colored gemstones and crystals is designed with simplicity and timelessness in mind.  These reasonably priced pieces are perfect to wear everyday, alone, or layered with other pieces.

Circle Stone Wrapped Earrings $84

Long Chain and Gemstone Station Necklace $145

DESIGNER #2: Blue Stone Jewelry

Redefining Elegance, Sophistication and Creativity. Blue Stone Jewelry is the creation of Jewelry Artist, Heather Bicer.  She has been designing and making necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings for almost twenty years. All of Heather’s work is handcrafted and all of her designs are as unique as they are appealing.

Smokey Quartz 14k Gold Filled Earrings $49

Chocolate Pearl and Smokey Quartz on Silk Cord, 14k Gold Filled Toggle $78

DESIGNER #3: Amelia Rae Designs

Designer of Amelia Rae Designs, Nicole Eichmann, creates one of a kind handcrafted jewelry inspired by nature, laughter, life and love.

Birdcage Necklace $ 79

You Can Call Me a Hippie Necklace $106

Philadelphia Kicks Off First of Fall Fashion Events by Peter Crimmons (click to hear) featuring Sarah Van Aken

Philadelphia Fashion, these aren’t two words that historically have rolled off the tongue.  At least, it isn’t what we have been known for.  That is not to say that there isn’t a history of fashion industry here.  Philadelphia was a hub of garment manufacturing until the later part of the 20^th century when trade agreements and labor costs made outsourcing overseas a more economical and acceptable opportunity.  Even that didn’t totally eliminate the industry here.  After all, the City has cultivated powerhouses such as Urban Outfitters and its five retail brands and Destination Maternity.  It is without question that longstanding retailers Joan Shepp and Knit Whit have influenced fashion business in the area as well and even now there remains some garment manufacturing (aside from our own) in the City.  Yet, none of these things seem to define us or be capitalized upon.

It may have come to your attention over the last year that a lot of fashion events have been popping up.  There are two completely independent Philadelphia Fashion Week events, the long standing Phashion Phest, and the recently announced Philadelphia Collection 2010 to name just a few.  All of which are trying to generate buzz and define the fashion ‘scene’ of Philadelphia.  In terms of timing, it couldn’t be better, I think all of us natives can safely say that we are successfully redefining our city’s image (and to acknowledge I say ‘we’, I don’t take credit, the great work done at the hands of the City of Philadelphia, GPTMC, CCD and all of the great independent businesses, but that is not the point I am trying to make).   Celebrity Chef’s, affordable luxury housing, art, and attractive retail help with this.  In my opinion the most important being that we have the largest park system of any city in the country, a large and growing commitment to sustainability, and that our housing market & economy have remained relatively stable even in the harsh economic times.

I acknowledge all of the efforts to promote ‘fashion’ here in the City and they certainly are the fun end of this business.  But what if we took it one step beyond? Instead of just creating a collaboration of fashion marketing opportunities, what if we created a viable and sustainable local fashion industry?

The City, not just meaning the governing body of the City of Philadelphia, but the City as a whole; retailers, designers, wholesalers, suppliers, marketers, and governing bodies have a real opportunity on our hands.   We have the City of Philadelphia on one hand who essentially will bend over backwards to create economic viability here in the local economy.  I know this to be true as I was the beneficiary of several of their programs.  We have the history of success in the industry and we have talent and resources to do it.  We can create a fashion industry, not just a fashion scene.  Think job creation, sustainable products and an asset to the vibrancy of our local economy.

And if you want to follow the “if you build it, they will come” philosophy, I think that this may be just the thing to try it out on.  The garment district in New York is on the verge of extinction between loss of business overseas and the end of zoning restrictions.  If we create the industry resources here, the changes in the economy and a growing concern for knowledge of product origination could create a very big opportunity for Philadelphia to capitalize upon.

I certainly acknowledge, it would take a lot of collaboration, incentives, political and financial backing but if we could create one solid apparel industry vision we may just be in a place to capitalize on this opportunity.   Maybe it’s a little pie in the sky, but I think I know how it can work so stay tuned……

It’s our birthday and we want to give a special gift to you! Post a response to the question below to be entered to win a $25 SA VA Gift Card!  Want a second entry?  ‘Like’ SA VA on Facebook and post Ethiquette.

Win a $25 Gift Card

What have you done in the past 365 days to contribute to living sustainably?  What is your Ethiquette?

Beginning Friday 8/27/10, offer ends midnight 8/29/10.

Erika Dress, heather gray arriving in store next week!

Up next in production….more season-less looks

With much anticipation it is only a matter of days until the next generation of the Erika dress is back!  Heather gray as promised.  There are only just over a dozen and a wait list started so let the girls know now if you would like to pre-order.

Today was a taste of the in-between weather that throws our fashion sense in to a frenzy.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Even though I get excited right around Labor Day and want to transition my entire closet from summer to fall with the anticipation of getting to wear my first full on fall outfit, I know I still won’t be able to wear most for weeks. (I also admit that I have already purchased my first piece of fall footwear – some amazing olive suede over the knee boots from Headstart! which I sadly will wait another 8 weeks to wear) Too early for fall, too late for summer…..

We have had a lot of fun this year coming up with some great pieces to make the transition easier.  A lot of jersey dresses that will carry you from now until fall (and if you aren’t sick of living in them for 6 months back until spring again), a blazer or two, drapey cardigans & vests, dresses for work and even the perfect black pencil pant and skirt. (it isn’t just me who loves a good pencil right? ).   That’s right, our Audrey pencil pant that sold out last year has been reinvented and will be in the store next week.

Maryann; rayon jersey dress in black or purple arriving in store on September 4th

Audrey black cotton sateen pencil pant arriving in store early next week.

SA VA: Native Gypsy  community fashion show & street fair  October 13, 2010

This is the first part in a series of blogs leading up to our fall fashion show: SA VA Native Gypsy.  It will be our 3rd outdoor public fashion show since opening almost a year ago.  We are really excited this year, not just because we have the luxury of planning more than 3 weeks before the event, but because the theme was

Native Gypsy Inspiration

sheer inspiration for us.  SA VA Native Gypsy comes to life from the idea of the grounded, community oriented person who has a traveling worldly soul.  We hope

that it emulates our vision of a woman who is transformative from one day to the next.  It will represent our moments of native, ethnic and earthly style as well as our urban, career driven lives.

The normal industry cycle of design and production is a long one.  Usually, the designer collections that you see in stores available for purchase in say, September, were designed 18 months to two years prior.  There is a huge machine of trend forecasting, product development, textile & trim sourcing, sales and marketing (i.e. fashion week) and then finally production & shipping that happens.  It is kind of like trying to steer a huge ship.  It was challenged over the last ten years by retailers like H&M who increased the pace to market of trend styles.  They started taking trends from runway and introducing them to market long before designers could get their product in to the market.  What we do is just a little bit different.  Since we design, source, manufacture and sell everything at the same place we have a different product life cycle.  The design of this collection was started in June and was completed at the end of July.  From there we started first patterns & samples in muslin and worked out colors & fabrications and this week Katya and I were in New York sourcing textiles.  From here, we will finalize our patterns through fittings and making production samples in actual fabric and then digitize, grade and mark our

first fall collection fabrics purchased

patterns.  We start production on our first pieces for the fall on September 1st, 6 weeks before the show.  We are a smidgen behind schedule but we shouldn’t have a problem with the 28 styles that need to be complete for the show.  We will be releasing half of them by October 13th and the balance in the following 3 weeks.

As many of our friends and loyal customers know, we care very much about how the clothing we sell is made.   Every item in our store has a globe paper hang tag that indicates the element of ethical fashion that applies:  Locally made, Fair-trade, organic, recycled, Made in the U.S.A., Hand Made.   We are really excited because now you can shop all of our sustainable clothing by these categories on our web store too!

When we opened the store almost a year ago, there were some items that we couldn’t make or source ourselves so we bought them from other vendors.  Regardless, any item sold in the store has to have one of these socially conscious element.  The good news is now that we have a year under our belt, about 90% of the clothing is made by us in our Garment Center – event better yet – this fall we will have our own domestically made line of sweaters and local made denim! 

Open Call for Jewelry & Accessory Designers

SA VA is looking to feature local jewelry and accessory designers this fall in our Philadelphia store and on our  new Web Store.  If you design and make jewelry, hand bags or accessories and you feel that your brand would be a good match to SA VA clothing please feel free to attend our open call for designers.

Is your brand SA VA?

In order to be considered for purchase by SA VA we ask that you ensure you can meet the following criteria.  If any of these do not apply, we thank you for your interest but request that you do not attend the open call.

- all of your jewelry/accessories are made in the Philadelphia region (within 200 miles)

- Pricing; the retail price point for your product are mid range
(please see price maximums per product type below)  AND your pricing structure
accommodates a 2.2-2.5% mark upon the wholesale price as industry standard.

- you are able to delivery high quality retail product within 4 weeks of ordering

- you do not sell your jewelry to any other retailer within a 2 mile radius of our store

 - the style of your jewelry fits the SA VA brand * (see below)

Retail prices may not exceed the figures below:
Handbags: $300
Necklaces: gemstone $150, costume/other $75
Bracelets: $100
Earrings: $80
Scarves: $100
Belts: $70

About SA VA:
SA VA is a groundbreaking clothing and accessories brand that is built on the platform of effortless, individual style and social consciousness.   Based in Philadelphia, the brand is comprised of a flagship store and design studio at 1700 Sansom Street, adjacent garment center and an on-line fashion community and store.  SA VA is locally made, globally inspired, and community focused fashion.  www.savafashion.com

You can learn more about our company on our blog.

–
* Please take the time to review our website and our blog for more information about our brand and to get a feel for the style of our store.  Please do not attend the open call if you are not sure that your brand is the right fit for our store.

OPEN CALL DATE: Friday, August 27th 11a.m.-1p.m 1700 Sansom Street

if you are unable to attend the open, you may forward digital line sheets and brand information to info@savafashion.com

This train of thought was furthered by a conversation I had last week with Grid Magazine Publisher Alex Mulcahy.  He recommended I read “Shop Class as Soul Craft” by Matthew Crawford, was kind enough to drop a copy in fact.  He is a philosopher so it may have been a bit over on the ideology for me but he had some pretty succinct points.  One being that we have devalued trade jobs in U.S. The hvac repair man for instance – a job that you can’t send overseas.  We are pushing all kids to go to college, the only acceptable thing to do, when there are perfectly valuable careers in trade jobs.  Another point he made was that we have become very removed from our ’stuff.’  We are quicker to dispose and buy new when things always used to be able to be repaired.

This has a lot of meaning to me.  For starters, more than half of our employees work in the Garment Center where they are pattern makers, fabric cutters and machine operators.  Trades. We received a grant from Philadelphia Workforce Development to train people when we opened the Garment Center because although they knew how to use the machines, sewing at the level that we needed hadn’t been seen in Philadelphia in decades.  Secondly, stuff.  We make stuff, we make waste.  Though it is true that I have a business that relies on people buying more stuff, it is something that we are incredibly conscious of.  How can we make it last longer, how can we make it better, more classic but still fresh.  And then there are the scraps.  It was only recently I realized they are starting to make insulation out of reclaimed denim.  This immediately peaked my interest… if I could recycle all of our textile scraps, beyond the decorative items we already make out them, that would be amazing.

Back to what I do everyday.  There are things that I love about my job, and naturally there are things that maybe aren’t exactly great.   When I put some thought in to it, I realized that for all of the good that these electronic things we are attached to do, I am lost with out the process of doing something.  Nothing like seeing a pattern from start to finish, a garment from cut to sew or a design from sketch to hanging on the sales floor.  I love the concept to fruition of the perfect marketing mailer and remerchandising a sales floor.  Not many of my days are spent like this any more, but the few that I get I really value.  And a note to the author: Mr. Crawford, we bought not one new machine for our garment center, and though we keep Bernardo our repair man busy, I like that I didn’t have to get new stuff.

update:

As an a quick addendum to my own blog:

1. An article from the times a week or so ago, look at how great these jobs of the future are

2. Ted Conference Video by Cameron Herald, which is a bit over the top but talks about raising kids to be entrepreneurs.

We live in a different world, and I tend to like it:)

I am really excited to announce that we won Best of Philly 2010 for New Boutique!  Best of Philly awards (ok and an invite to the party) are always something coveted.   Many many thanks to Philly Mag!  The party was fun too, catching up with the usual suspects and some that I don’t get to see so often.     I am sure that there are pictures to come on phillychitchat.com  and phillymag.com

Seems as though we are being showered with good news in all directions and it is nice to know that we have made some people happy along the way.  A good customer of ours, Sharon, emailed me this week to say “Just a note to let you know that my very favorite thing in the whole world for the Summer is the SA VA organic cotton white tank dress. I LOVE it and will probably wear it to shreads.  My only regret is that I did not buy two!”  It’s true that was such a versatile piece and it is really such a great thing to hear someone so happy with their purchase.  

What is your favorite SA VA item?  Post to our Facebook Page and enter to win this Tribal Society batik pink tagua necklace!

photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Tribune

In learning her history, I was inspired by her.  She was an African American, female, fashion entrepreneur in Philadelphia, in the 1940’s.  She did what women didn’t do in her time, in a city that was not known for fashion. Philadelphia was known for textiles and garment manufacturing but the idea of couture hats in Philadelphia instead of New York or Paris was an anomaly.  It is one thing to be a fashion designer, which is something that so few people get to do, however it is an entirely other thing to be a fashion entrepreneur.  It is a different thing because there is a balance between your creativity and your business sense that must meet in perfect harmony to equate to success.  Not only did she succeed in this but she did it in a time when women, let alone African American women just weren’t likely to do it.   This very cool lady is definitely worth exploring more.

She was raised in the south, started her career as a teacher, went to millinery school in Chicago,was widowed with a young child and moved to Philadelphia in her early 20’s and worked in a women’s retail boutique.  She had multiple locations for her store throughout the years and worked in to her 80’s.  As glamorous as the fashion business sounds, it is a lot of work.  It makes me consider my own identity.  Though I occasionally answer the inquiry of my career with “I am a fashion designer”  you are more likely to hear me say, “I own an apparel company.”  Though I love designing clothes, the truth is that design is a small part of what I do.  There are days when I am a garment factory manager, a stylist, a marketer, an operations manager, a garment packer, a bookkeeper, a financial planner, a graphic designer and some days a brander.  For that matter, fashion design is far more than an illustration on a piece of paper.  It is rarely seen by the average person, every step that goes in to making a garment:  first patterns, first samples, second pattern, second samples; model fittings; digitizing, grading and marking; choices and sourcing of  fabric, trims, notions; cutting, sewing, pressing, packing. Once you have that, how does it fit in with the rest of the merchandise in your line, in your store and how does it work for your customers.  The life of a piece of clothing is multifaceted and that is without even getting on my high horse about where and by whom it was made.  You just never know what you are going to get in this business and it is far more than what you design.  But on the average day, I feel pretty lucky to get to do it.

To learn more about Mae Reeves check out WHYY’s coverage (including a quote from me) this article in the Philadelphia Tribune and stay tuned to the Smithsonian’s website for details about her upcoming exhibit there.