Washington Winter Show 2017

52 This page is sponsored by Marjorie Hulgrave and James and Melanie New in honor of The Founders Board of St. John’s Commuinty Services the United States. My interest in accessories was spurred when a small division of a major conglomerate asked me to turn around their accessories business. That opportunity led me to approach Liz Claiborne. She was at the forefront of a major change of clothing for the women who were entering the workforce in great numbers. We created the first coordinated accessories collection, including handbags, scarves, and belts. Liz Claiborne became a $3 billion public company and the accessories division, which was later acquired by Liz Claiborne, became the largest such business at the time. Why? First, Liz had a great sense of style. It was understated, and women knew that when they wore Liz and walked into a room they would be dressed appropriately, with style and good taste. The impact of the addition of approximately 25 million women to the workforce between 1970 and 2000, many of them in management jobs, created a major new customer base. The thirteen years I spent working with Liz Claiborne were very influential on my sense of fashion. She had a very clean and understated style and understood the impact of strong and flattering colors. She saw the need for suitings, the essential image builder for women with career goals. By 1990, consolidations in the department store industry had begun to shift power from the brands to the stores, and retailing in department stores began to shrink as a share of market. I now also understood that, while I was a merchant and designer, I needed to learn more financial skills. I made a very unusual choice and decided to study finance, in 1995 earning my MBA from Columbia University School of Business. After several years working in private equity, I met my husband, a D.C.-based antitrust attorney, moved to Washington, and “retired.” However, many of my friends from women’s business organizations, including The Committee of 200, the International Women’s Forum, and Women Corporate Directors, asked me to help them find clothes that were appropriate for their work. While the fashion industry appeared to be a great opportunity for women, there was a glass ceiling. Women were only considered for buying and fashion positions, not business leadership positions. At a meeting with the store presidents, I had realized for the first time that some of the women in the room were capable of running a store but that we looked different and would not even be considered for such a position. My personal experiences and those of friends convinced me that one of the things that held women back from the top positions was that we simply were women and that we had to project a style and an image of power, competence, success, attractiveness, and likeability. This is a challenging mix. The fashion direction projected for women by most designers was overtly sexy and too casual; the quality was either poor or the prices were very high. All men need is a grey pinstripe suit with the right tie and shirt; for casual, a blue shirt with sleeves rolled up and khakis will suffice. In the eighteenth century, the Comte de Buffon connected style and the person: “ Le style c’est l’homme m ê me .” “Style is the man himself”—it summarizes the inner self and creates an image. What to do? Create a brand that was focused on women who wanted to look chic, elegant, and stylish. Styles that could be worn on trips around the world, to a business meeting or a luncheon, to the opera, or just every Nina McLemore, embroidered silk dupioni car coat with dogwood motif. Holiday collection, 2012. Christian Dior’s “New Look” suit, 1947, with a full gathered skirt and short fitted jacket with peplum. Photo by Keystone- France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images.