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This article by Jamie Saxon was prepared for the October 6, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Witherspoon Street Goes SoHo
by Jamie Saxon
"I refuse to live my life on a mediocre level — mediocre is like a
swear word to me,” says clothing designer and Princeton resident
Chantal Palmer, 34, who debuted the spring line of her company,
Victoria/KitKat, at a private fashion show last May at Small World
Coffee on Witherspoon Street. She unveils her fall/winter line at a
fashion show open to the public at Princeton Writer’s Block on
Saturday, October 9, at 2:30 p.m.
Princetonians with an eye for fashion will be watching closely,
including those who attended Palmer’s show last May. Palmer couldn’t
have started her career farther from the design world. Initially she
seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of her father, a
pharmaceutical entrepreneur. She grew up in Johnnesburg, South Africa,
and, after earning a B.A. in industrial psychology from the University
of Johannesburg in 1993, she took over the helm of an ailing company
that provided organizational stress analysis. She turned it around,
then sold to earn her MBA in 1998.
When she moved to Princeton with her husband, Gary, VP of the U.S.
cardiovascular division of Pfizer, she took advantage of the three
years when she couldn’t work before getting her green card. Ever the
enterprising woman, Palmer earned a fast track degree in merchandising
from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2002. A self-proclaimed
clotheshorse, she decided to design her own line of clothing while
picking up some retail experience at Hedy Shepard on Nassau Street. In
2003, David Newton, VP of Palmer Square Management, had a store space
in between leases and let Palmer come in for a weekend — she showed 30
skirts, priced between $185 and $225, and sold half. Victoria/ KitKat
was born.
While Palmer admits her MBA has certainly come in handy while
launching her own business she calls herself an artist. (Her mother
was an abstract expressionist painter, and as a teen, Palmer studied
sculpture at a high school for the arts.) “I feel more like an artist
than a designer,” she says. “Artists work in fits and spurts. For
example, for eight weeks before a show, I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I
lose 20 pounds. Then, in the downtime, I regenerate. I sit back and
think about what’s next even before the existing show. I had ideas
about my spring (2005) line four months before this show.”
To prepare for the October 9 show, Palmer has moved into office space
above Holsome Tea on Witherspoon Street. But the four-room apartment,
freshly painted in serene, quiet shades of cream and butter yellow by
landlord and Holsome Tea-owner Paul Shu, can hardly be called an
office. It’s more like a creative incubator. “I’m a tremendously
spiritual person in essence. This space has a calmness,” says Palmer.
“There’s an incredible aura in this building.” The designer, who
practices yoga four times a week, says that as an artist, she is not
like others “who live their whole lives on a frenetic level. You have
to be in touch with your body and self — then you log in more with
people.”
Previously working out of her 250-year-old home on Mercer Street,
Palmer says she specifically chose to be on Witherspoon Street. “This
is the little SoHo of Princeton,” says Palmer. “Princeton wants New
York to be in their backyard. They don’t want to get on the train.” On
Witherspoon, Palmer has connected with a group of entrepreneurs, many
of them women, including Jessica Durrie, owner of Small World Coffee
(who she met at a yoga class), Paige Peterson and Michelle DeHaven of
the boutique Rouge, and Lana Breygina, owner of Onyx Nails. It is a
small circle of women who both socialize together and provide
professional support and inspiration.
“When we get together, it’s not small talk. We exchange ideas. Some of
us are older, some younger, some divorced, some married,” says Palmer.
“Some are more avant-garde, some have a quiet inner strength. We all
have a strong sense of tenacity and confidence — we’re like ‘Sex & the
City in Princeton.’” Ironically, Palmer and Breygina were once
neighbors on another continent. They lived in the same suburb in
Johannesburg, where Breygina had an accessory store that Palmer
frequented. They hadn’t seen each other for years but reconnected — on
Witherspoon Street.
In addition to designing clothes, Palmer has more than one agenda —
she wants to foster entrepreneurialism in Princeton, referring to
Princeton’s little Soho as “a center for entrepreneurs.” She says:
“One of my passions is to start a business incubator program,”
referring to the practice in some cities of dedicating one building in
which entrepreneurs can work rent-free for nine months, then pay rent
via a percentage of sales. “That in itself would create a tourist
attraction in Princeton,” says Palmer, who claims she is “committed to
try to make it here in Princeton” but acknowledges that the borough
could do a lot more to support entrepreneurs and involve them in
meetings and programs that cover municipal planning, tourism, and
promotion.
Palmer, who is totally self-funded at this time, says: “I’m not sure
how much more I can put in — if entrepreneurs are going to survive
here, there has to be more support.” She has taught a course at the
Princeton Adult School called “Retail Reality,” which, she says, “was
really about entrepreneurship. Lots of women have dreams (of starting
their own business) but financing and fear are the big shackles.”
Financing and fear take a back seat once Palmer sits down to design
clothing. The Victoria/ KitKat fall/winter collection carries the
theme “Autumn Folly.” “It ties in with the 10 follies of the Writer’s
Block,” says Palmer, referring to the structures that
representationally blend the work of architects and writers. “This
will be the 11th folly.” The show will also have a strong South
African influence. In addition to Palmer’s designs, the show will
feature hand-beaded evening dresses by South African designer
Vesselina Pentcheva. Palmer is using recorded music of South African
diva Brenda Fassie and may use a live drummer to give the event a
tribal feel. Small World Coffee will serve a South African drink
called a Rock Shandy.
The fall/winter collection centers around skirts with a low-cut
waistline, what has now come to be known, says Palmer, as “the
Victoria/KitKat cut, which sits right at the hip for comfort.” Palmer
will show 30 pieces in the show — variations on five core styles in
fabrics that are rich in color and texture. “They’re thick, like
velvets and brocades, luscious, fun, romantic, and a little bohemian
like Michael Kors’ ‘70s gypsy,” says Palmer, referring to the
designer’s fall look. She adds that the fabrics also are at “a very
sophisticated level, like wool tweed with tulle coming out underneath
for a whimsical element,” and many, like the corduroy and cotton
velvets, are wash and wear. The skirts are sewn in New York, then
brought to the Victoria/KitKat studio on Witherspoon, where Helena
Sabova, a Morrisville-based seamstress, creates customized add-ons —
cats cut out of printed material and sewn on the skirts — another
Victoria/KitKat signature.
At the show, the skirts will be paired with sweaters, long boots,
round-toed heels that are very in this season (Palmer reveals her
fashion-forward radar by holding up a pair she says she bought three
years ago), and fiber and wool woven scarves and wraps by Princeton
designer Hope van Cleaf, who also happens to be the event coordinator
for the Writers Block.
One key difference between the show last spring and this one is that
at the October 9 show, Palmer will have skirts available for sale. “My
biggest mistake (last May) was not selling right after the show,” she
says. Palmer has also made arrangements for a trunk show at Onyx Nails
Spa and Boutique, 15 Witherspoon Street (609-683-5855), on Sunday,
October 10, from noon to five p.m.
She says that despite the fact that she did not have skirts for sale
at the spring show, all the skirts did sell out. “The whole point is
not to create too many of any one style,” says Palmer. “At $200 to
$300, they’re not priced as mass merchandise but the people who do buy
them realize they have something unique. I’m designing not for an age
but for an attitude — the confidence to wear a conversation piece, to
wear a little bit of whimsy.” Many of her customers travel
extensively, and she says the skirts she sold last spring have
“traveled the world from the West Coast to Nice to London to
Switzerland.” Word of mouth also drives sales. “One friend who modeled
in the spring show wore her skirt to work, and her boss phoned the
next day to order one for herself.”
The idea to hold the show at the Writers Block came from a good friend
of Palmer’s — Peter Soderman, the moving force behind the Writers
Block project. For Palmer’s spring show, Soderman transformed Small
World Coffee into a mini-atelier with a daisy-strewn runway. In a
conversation with Palmer last May, he not only outlined his vision for
the Writers Block but also told her he wanted her to do a fashion show
there. Palmer readily agreed, and Soderman is constructing a T-shaped
runway out from the 18th century barn, donated by the Ringoes-based
New Jersey Barn Company, that acts as the main garden entrance.
It seems that at every turn Palmer cites the help of a friend — she
never uses the term “business associate.” Forging good relationships
and giving credit where credit is due are lessons she learned from her
father. “In the first company I owned, I had 12 consultants,” says
Palmer. “At our Christmas party, I introduced my father to them and
said, ‘These are all the people who work for me.’ And he said, ‘No,
they work with you. They do it for you and to make you look better.’”
Palmer carries out this advice every day. Among the people with whom
she has forged synergistic relationships is David Newton of Palmer
Square, who gave Victoria/KitKat its first exposure to well-heeled
Princetonians. Palmer also says Palmer Square Management — which
enabled the Writers Block dream to be realized by loaning the property
on which it is built — has been exceptionally supportive of her
fashion show and the other events being held there.
Also key to her success, she says, are several entrepreneurial friends
who are lending support for the October 9 show: Lana Breygina, the
owner of Onyx Nails, will do the models’ nails; Terri Cerf and several
stylists from Metropolis in Princeton Shopping Center will do the hair
and makeup; and Jessica Durrie, owner of Small World Coffee, will have
her staff serving beverages; Gabrielle Carone and Matthew Erico,
owners of the Bent Spoon on Palmer Square will serve cupcakes with
pink Victoria/KitKat frosting.
As with her spring show, Palmer intends to use “real” women as models.
In addition to Durrie and Breygina, models will include Bonnie
Bassler, professor of molecular biology at Princeton University; Linda
Domino, yoga instructor (at Holsome Yoga and Simply Yoga) and HR
consultant; Laurie Nibb, professional mother of four and fitness
fanatic, Chie Davis, newscaster at WZBN News; Bettina Slade,
professional mother and rower; Samantha Emerson, student at Notre Dame
High School; Grace Martin, student at the Hun School; Emelyne Smith,
employee of Small World Coffee; Jesse Starbuck, artist and employee at
Small World Coffee; Kelechi Acholomo, a senior at Princeton
University; Sandy Taite, director of a scholarship fund and a former
film director; and Robin Resch, professional photographer and owner of
Robin Resch Studios on Nassau Street.
In addition, Simone Okoth, a stunning Ugandan who graduated last June
from Princeton High and modeled in the Victoria/KitKat spring show
will return for this show. Okoth, represented by IMG, now models
professionally in New York — she recently appeared in a fashion
feature in Time magazine and worked nonstop on the runways at Fashion
Week in September in New York. “I am so amazed that people like her
and others are so willing to get up there and model for me,” says
Palmer. “These are amazing women and girls.”
Palmer readily admits that her success is based on hard work that is
completely interdependent with the work of others. “My dad worked long
hours,” she says. “He always said to me, ‘Keep on plowing.’ That’s
what an entrepreneur does. Multitask times 10. Then get the right
people to help you. I’m only as good as the people who help me.”
Saturday, October 9, Princeton Writers Block, Paul Robeson Place
(between Witherspoon and Chambers streets), 2:30 p.m. Free; donations
welcome to benefit the Writers Block. Call 609-252-1177 to reserve
seats by Thursday, October 7, at 5 p.m.
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