I am so excited to announce that my collection has been snapped up by a new boutique opening up in the USA!!
If you would like some more insider info about my label
Eleanor's Riot, Jaclyn, owner of Audrey Grace Boutique asked me some questions and posted up my response on her shop site.
X marks the spot.
I also got the chance to get to know my new stockist a little bit better over the weekend, I think it's going to be such a wonderful little boutique and am already plotting how to get over to visit it in person.
Hello,
are you having a good week? What have you been up to?
Hey Fi, I'm having a good week! I've been a
bit of a gypsy lately traveling from place to place. I finished my third year
of college last week, went home to Mississippi for a couple of days and now I'm
in L.A. for a few days before flying out to Sydney, Australia to work at the
Sydney Film Festival!
You
are opening up a boutique in your hometown of Jackson, can you tell us a bit
about your motivations and inspirations?
I'm inspired by really girly, beautiful
fashions that you see in magazines like Lula,
Teen Vogue, Vogue UK and NYLON. I
feel like there is a gap in the retail market where I live- I don't think women
have many places to shop. I wanted to bring a new kind of store to Jackson, and
see how it goes. That's why Audrey Grace
is first opening as a pop up boutique during the Christmas holidays, and not a stand-alone
shop. I hope to open an actual store, but I feel like a pop up boutique in my
hometown is a really good place to test the waters.
I'm obviously very inspired by Audrey
Hepburn and Grace Kelly. For as long as I can remember, I've collected books
and photos of them. I also think they were wonderful actresses. I saw the Grace
Kelly exhibit last year at the Victoria and Albert in London, and it basically
changed the way I think about fashion. I found myself asking why don't women
dress more like her today? So that's the type of mindset I hope to bring to the
store. I also come from a long line of very chic Southern women, and have a
very supportive family, so this has motivated me to follow my dream of opening
a boutique!
I'm also inspired by many films- of course
Audrey and Grace films- like the films of Billy Wilder, Blake Edwards, and
Alfred Hitchcock, but also French New Wave classics by Godard, and more recent
filmmakers like Sofia Coppola, Joe Wright and Woody Allen. I love films that
use stunning cinematography, beautiful costumes and great actors to tell a
story.
Many designers also inspire me, but Karl
Lagerfeld is my favorite. He's a genius and I would love to carry Chanel in
Audrey Grace one day.
You
are currently studying and living in New York, can you tell us a bit about your
life over there?
Yeah, I'm really lucky to be living in NYC
and going to school. I go to Fordham College at Lincoln Center, where I am a
theatre performance major. I love singing and acting, first and foremost. I
hope to perform professionally soon onstage. I have been in a couple of shows
at my school, and it's been a great experience. I hope to do more. I've had
some wonderful teachers both at Fordham and at LAMDA in London, where I studied
abroad. I'm constantly learning about and discovering new plays that I want to
be in! I also go see lots of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, as well as go to the
cinema. But I'm a musical theatre girl at heart; so all my favorites are
usually musicals.
Also, NYC is obviously the fashion capital
of the world so I basically shop all the time. I need more self-restraint! I
think fashion and theatre go together, because theatre is so much about costume
design. One of my flat mates is studying to be a costume designer, and I'm
always interested in what she is working on, because I think that costumes are
so important to an actor's physicality and performance.
This
venture will be a pop up store, do you think one day you may create a more
permanent boutique?
Yes, I would love to. That's the ultimate
goal. I would love to have Audrey Grace
stores in Jackson, New York, London and Paris! That's way down the line though,
but wouldn't that be amazing?
I also hope to expand and carry more high-end
brands, in addition to the ones I am carrying.
You
are stocking artists and designers from all over the world! How did you begin
and refine your search for such an array of creatives?
Well, the internet really opened up the
world of fashion for me. It's amazing to be able to communicate with so many
designers and artists from all over the world. Basically I just started out
researching on etsy, and then people would recommend different brands that
would fit my aesthetic. Also, I read a ton of magazines that feature new
designers. I basically find something I like for the shop every day!
I also looked to girls whose style I liked
and what brands they wore. Like Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) works alot with
Jenny Reyes of Geronimo, and Alexa
Chung wore a TBA dress. That's how I
found out about those two brands!
What
can the Audrey Grace Boutique shopper
expect from the boutique, can you tell us a bit about the artists and designers
involved?
Hopefully a shopper will walk into a small
oasis of beautiful things! Every brand and artist that's going to be stocked in
the shop is different. They all spoke to me, and a lot of the products I could
see Audrey and Grace wearing. I'm also working on a number of collaborations
with designers for dresses and accessories for the shop. These include dresses
(and accessories) by Katie-Louise Ford,
Alexandra Grecco, Kelsey Genna and Up The Wooden Hills. There might even be more to come!
I'm also curating a small gallery exhibit
for the shop, which has been really fun! Audrey and Grace will inspire it, of
course.
How
would you describe your style?
Well, I'm definitely a girlie girl. I try
to mix vintage, high street or new designers pieces with more expensive things.
I wear a lot of clogs, randomly. I'm really tall and they are the only heels
that work for me. I also wear pink all the time.
Do
you think that you are going to have trouble parting with some of the stock?
Of course. I want everything I am stocking.
But I know the people that buy it will reflect my taste and style, which is
very flattering. Plus I will get to wear a lot of it in the ad campaign for the
shop.
Over
here in the UK there are a number of organizations set up for young
entrepreneurs looking to set up a business. Be it funding, help with business
plans or just general advice. What kind of support have you found in the States?
I mean I am sure there is some support in
the U.S. for this type of thing, but where I am from it's kind of unheard of to
set up a business at my age. I'm not even out of college! I am very lucky I
have a supportive family, and will probably look into more funding options once
my business expands.
Is
there any advice you would give to anyone in your position looking to do
something a little out of the ordinary?
I'd just say if you have a concrete idea,
then go for it! You only live once!
I
can't wait to see the space take shape; can you give away any thoughts as to
what the boutique may look and feel like?
The interior of the shop is going to be
great. It's going to be painted Tiffany's blue, filled with antique furniture,
and the wall is going to be covered with art that will be for sale.
You
have named the boutique after the unforgettable Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly,
can you tell us a little bit about why you chose to do so, and perhaps some of
your favorite aspects of these two ladies?
I've always admired both of them. They were
from a similar time, and both had classic style, but were still unique. They
were both also amazing actresses.
I chose to name the boutique after them
because I feel like all women can relate to them. I mean really, what girl
doesn't want to look or dress like Audrey or Grace at some point in their life?
Some of my favorite films of Audrey's are Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's, My
Fair Lady and Love in The Afternoon.
Her wardrobe in Breakfast at Tiffany's
was just to die for. I know the black dress is the most famous, but I love the
pink dress and opera coat she wears too. I actually have a replica of that
coat. She also seemed like a genuinely nice and wonderful woman.
Grace Kelly's tenure in Hollywood was shorter
lived, but I love that she was the ultimate Hitchcock blonde. Then she became a
princess. Her life story is so interesting, and seems so unrealistic. How many
girls actually become a movie star and a princess? Her life was a real life
fairy tale.
I loved her wedding dress. That's my
favorite look she ever wore. It was just so beautiful and classic. I love that
Sarah Burton referenced it in her wedding dress for Kate Middleton. It shows
that Grace's style is still relevant today.
Last
but not least can you tell us a secret?
I honestly don't really have any secrets,
but I can share some secret shopping spots in New York and London! I'm not
really sure actually if these places are secrets. But I will try to recommend
places that are boutiques as opposed to big name shops.
In NYC, Steven Alan Annex in Tribeca has a
great in house line and stocks some of my favorite NYC designers like Rachel
Antonoff and Lauren Moffatt. There's also a store called Otte in the West
Village that has some great pieces. They carry See by Chloe and Suno, among
many others. The Lower East Side is a fun shopping neighborhood full of local
boutiques like Pixie Market and TG170. There's also a ton of vintage shops
there.
In London, I discovered so many amazing
shops and markets. For my style, I believe London is the place to shop! I love
love love Liberty, not really a secret place, but who cares! As far as
boutiques go- I loved the boutiques in Islington like My Sugarland and Labour
of Love. I like Fifi Wilson, Tatty Devine and all the vintage shops in Covent
Garden. I love the vintage shop Shikasuki in Primrose Hill. There are tons of
places in London. I love the way London girls dress, and the stores there
really influenced my shop.
Thanks so much Jaclyn, I look forward to hearing more about how the project unfolds and develops. xx
