Kate Coxworth, Kate Boggiano
The classic lines and craftsmanship in Kate Boggiano women’s apparel make it seem like a timeless brand, not unlike Ralph Lauren, where the designer, Kate Coxworth, got her start. I learned about Kate through the Chicago Fashion Incubator – an annual program started at Chicago Macy’s on State Street back in 2005. The Chicago Fashion Incubator offers select designers the resources, workspace, showroom, curriculum, and mentoring to grow their business and learn more about the fashion industry. Not surprisingly, this CFI alum has a clear brand identity – classic femininity – and a good understanding of the business from her experience and her dad, her mentor and a successful entrepreneur. I asked Kate a few questions in this interview, to shed some light on her design priorities and interests.
How did you get started in fashion?
I have always been in love with fashion. When I was a little girl, my grandmother taught me how to sew. I used to make my own patterns and sew all my own clothes. I ended up majoring in fashion in college at Indiana University after a brief detour in pre-med. Post college, I moved to NYC and worked first as a technical designer and later as a product merchant at Ralph Lauren.
What have you learned from your experience at Ralph Lauren?
The best education I received was at Ralph Lauren. I learned fitting, factory communication, and really how all pieces of the fashion industry fit together. I also learned a lot about corporate waste and some very valuable lessons in what I didn’t want to do when I had my own business.
How would you sum up the Kate Boggiano brand?
Kate Boggiano is a high quality line of women’s apparel focused on blouses, dresses, and jackets all made in the USA.
Your shop offers a large selection of ruffled blouses. Why do you gravitate to this embellishment?
One of the main points of view of the Kate Boggiano brand is classic femininity. To me the ruffle is a perfect tangible embellishment that embodies this feeling.
Are there any fabrics that you, as a designer, like more than others?
I am a woven’s girl at heart meaning, I prefer woven fabrics to knits mostly because of their formal appeal. I realized however, that stretch is and always will be king so a woven with at least 3% of some sort of stretch is incredibly important and necessary for commercial success.
Is there anything different about materials and production for your business?
I don’t think so. We are too small to develop all of our own materials at this point so we are at the mercy of our mills. How we track and monitor our use of raw materials is probably a little extreme for a small business. I have been around a production floor long enough to understand how fast wastage will cut into your bottom line if you are not paying attention to it. We precut all fabrics and trims in our studio before handing them off to our factories. If they use more that what we calculate they should use (we do allow a small 3% wastage) and they can’t prove to us that the goods were damaged, we deduct it from our PO.
What was it like to be part of the Chicago Fashion Incubator?
I think I came into the Chicago Fashion Incubator with a fairly healthy business so for me, the access to the press and industry mentors was my most important and valuable asset of being a part of the Chicago Fashion Incubator.
Where do you draw inspiration?
Honestly, my inspiration comes first from analyzing the styles that sold last season and figuring out why the others didn’t sell. From that, I figure out how many SKU’s are winners vs. losers and then I go from there. For the actual design, again, I look at what sold, figure out why it sold and try to repeat it in a new and interesting way. It’s very analytical over here that’s for sure!
Are there any trends for this Fall or next Spring that you are particularly fond of?
I think application of lace is going to continue to be interesting as we are still in the economic downturn and when that happens, typically, people tend to dress up and elements of classic femininity come out. I think lace applied in interesting ways is really important as well as a relatively tailored, dressed up silhouette.
Do you have a mentor? What was the best advice you’ve gotten so far?
I was very fortunate to grow up with a my mentor – my Dad. He is an entrepreneur and has built 2 extremely successful businesses and is unbelievably creative. He has taught me that very rare link between creativity and business success. His first company failed twice and I was fortunate to be alive to see it both times. He has been very open and honest with me about failure, why it happens, and how it can be avoided by paying attention to the health of your business first and foremost and using a pnl to guide your business decisions and not your emotion. This has been a struggle with me in a creative industry but I’m convinced it is why I’m still in business after almost 5 years.
What would you be wearing on an average weekday?
I typically wear Kate Boggiano (samples I might add!). I like to look nice at work as you’re never sure who or what opportunity is going to occur. We also keep normal business hours here which I think is really important for keeping us on the right path.
Where can our readers buy your designs?
The easiest and most convenient place is kateboggiano.com. We do a lot of retail events in the Chicagoland area so you can also check our website for a list of these by month under the events page.
What are you working on now? What’s next for you?
Currently, I am restrategizing our business. That’s about as specific as I can be but big things are happening and I am VERY excited about it. Look for updates shortly and I will make sure to let know as soon as I can.
